Belgium will switch to summer time in the night from Saturday to Sunday, which means that at two o’clock in the morning, the hands will advance one hour. It will then be three o’clock. In other words, we will lose an hour of sleep.
It is a 2001 directive which regulates the transition from winter time to summer time and vice versa. All European states change time on the last weekend in March and the last weekend in October. The seasonal time change was introduced in the 1970s in order to limit the consumption of artificial lighting and therefore achieve energy savings. Today, however, it is increasingly criticized.
In particular, it is said to have negative health effects, such as mini jetlags (jet lag syndrome) which particularly affect children and the elderly. Critics also cite an increased number of traffic accidents due to poor visibility and fatigue.
A change in 2021, normally
After having carried out a public consultation, the European Commission had recommended in September 2018 to abolish the seasonal time change from 2019. Both the Member States and the Parliament had however considered this time limit too short, postponing the end of the time change in the European Union until 2021.
The measure leaves each country the choice of staying in winter or summer time. An opinion poll commissioned by the Prime Minister’s Chancellery showed that the majority of the Belgian population (83%) is in favor of stopping the seasonal time change.
Regarding the time system that Belgium should adopt permanently, 50% of respondents indicated their preference for winter time while 45% expressed themselves in favor of summer time.
It is therefore, without doubt, the last time we switch to summer time …
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