Jan Wildeboer 😷
In 2019, on March 26th, the EU Parliament confirmed the TRAN ( European Parliament Transport and Tourism Committee) decision to support the EU commission proposal to get rid of the summer/winter clock change. So tonight we will enter year 8 of waiting for the Council of the European Union to do their part in the process so we can finally rid ourselves of this useless theater. #ThanksEU
bluca@jwildeboer the problem is always the same everywhere: absolutely everyone hates the time change, but half the people want permanent summer time and half want permanent winter time. So whoever implements it, in whichever way, it is guaranteed to piss off half the population. No wonder they don't want to do it...
@bluca The Commission has approved. The Parliament has approved, it is really just rotting in the drawers of the council because they are too lazy to put it on the agenda. Member states have been given discretion to decide which time they want to make permanent for their country. And it's not a 50/50 piss off rate. 84% said it's about time to stop the time switching [1] :)
[1] https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_18_5302
@jwildeboer yeah vast majority wants to stop switching, but there's no agreement as to _when_ to stop switching, and that's why the national governments don't want to do it. Either of the two available options (permanent standard time OR permanent daylight savings time) will actively piss off ~half their electorate, so they'll never do it. It's not lazyness, it's pure political calculus. And it sucks ofc
@bluca There is an agreement on the when. Since almost 8 years. It's the day the council joins the parliament and the commission and votes on the proposal :) The decision may piss off half the electorate (though I've never seen any numbers on that) but not taking action pisses off 84%. It's a running gag by now, showcasing why the EU at times deserves to be seen as incapable to make decisions.
@jwildeboer half/half was an oversimplification, but there is usually a big split when surveys on this matter pop up https://yougov.com/en-us/articles/54237-the-times-they-are-a-changin-but-most-americans-would-rather-they-not
Rihards Olups@jwildeboer @bluca They mean which time to stick with, not whether to stop/not.
Split might differ between countries, but a split is there for sure.
Split might differ between countries, but a split is there for sure.
@jwildeboer @bluca Right, and if the guess about "which zone to stick with" split is close to 50%, that's 35% not satisfied with the zone picked + 30% who wanted to keep on changing the clock, and the outcome is disliked by many.
Yes, the 30% likely include the indifferent ones and the numbers are partially made up, but I can see the point they made. Not that it should stall everything like this. Just pick one zone and GO. Even a random choice would be better...
@jwildeboer @bluca There could be considerations like "KGB/GRU will capitalise on this and grab another country like Hungary or Slovakia", but I'm not sure it's that forward-thinking :)
Maybe that could be resolved by "we're stopping the stupid moving, now a referendum on which zone way remain". Expensive, but might be worth it.
Haakon Thue Lie@richlv @jwildeboer @bluca Nepal's +5:45 is the most eccentric, set to distinguish from India. So Europe could align with a +0:45 shift. Or, my favourite, do a + 0:09 shift to align with Paris' solar time.
@htl @jwildeboer @bluca Offer all kinds of really bad options first with a straight face.
After a huge shitstorm, pick one of the existing summer/winter times at random.
Everybody's happy - "at least it's not one of those shitty options!".
After a huge shitstorm, pick one of the existing summer/winter times at random.
Everybody's happy - "at least it's not one of those shitty options!".
Iαη 🍺@jwildeboer @bluca
I can't imagine its a 50/50 2 way split. As it doesn't matter a bit which hour is chosen, any choice will line up with some part of the year, it might be a 3 way 10/10/don't care split.
I can't imagine its a 50/50 2 way split. As it doesn't matter a bit which hour is chosen, any choice will line up with some part of the year, it might be a 3 way 10/10/don't care split.