Rome – An extra hour of sleep for everyone, a ritual marking the end of summer and the beginning of winter. Tonight, between October 25th and 26th, clocks will move back 60 minutes, returning Italy to standard time until March 2026.
A seemingly innocuous gesture, but it hides a European paradox: while Italy has just completed seven months of daylight saving time, resulting in energy savings estimated at over 90 million euros, the battle to definitively end the biannual change has been languishing in Brussels for seven years.
The dossier, presented by the European Commission in 2018 at the urging of Parliament and several national governments, calls for the abolition of the switch between summer and winter time, leaving each country free to choose its permanent time zone—whether summer or winter time—without further fluctuations.
An idea born in response to criticism over its health impacts and energy consumption, but which has since fallen into political limbo.
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What's holding everything back is the chronic indecision of the Member States: on the one hand, those pushing for permanent daylight saving time to maximize evening light and economic benefits; on the other, the defenders of standard time, faithful to the natural rhythm of the sun.
The Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent crises—energy and geopolitical—have only amplified the chaos, leaving the 1980 directive in force without a deadline. Terna, the company that manages the Italian electricity grid, has quantified the benefits of the current system: in 2025 alone, the seven months of summer time avoided the waste of 646 million kWh, equivalent to an 18% reduction in CO2 emissions and 90 million euros saved on utility bills.
But Brussels is not giving up, while shifting responsibility to national governments. "This is an issue that states must agree on and coordinate among themselves; it cannot be imposed from above," the spokesperson reiterated, emphasizing that "the ball is now in the 27's court." While waiting for an agreement that seems light years away, Europe remains stuck in its anachronistic time zone.
And, as the Commission representative ironically concluded, the only concrete "good news" for citizens is immediate: "Get ready to enjoy that extra sleep next weekend." For now, the future remains murky.
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