Belgium is switching to summer time at 2:00 AM tonight, between Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 March.
At 2:00 AM the time will in effect be 3:00 AM, pushing the time of sunset one hour later in the evening in Belgium, from 7:07 PM on Saturday to 8:08 PM Sunday evening.
All EU member states change their time on the last weekend of March and the last weekend of October, according to a directive from 2001. Daylight saving time however, actually dates back to the 1970s with the aim of saving energy to make better use of daylight, although the effectiveness of this practise is disputed.
In 2018, the European Commission conducted a public consultation regarding the measure, and based on the public poll the Commission recommended to put an end to seasonal time change from 2019. The Parliament and Member States found the deadline too short and decided to postpone the abolishment of seasonal time change in the European Union to 2021, this year.
The measure will leave each country the choice to stay in winter or summer time.
In Belgium, an opinion poll commissioned in 2019 showed that the majority of the population (83%) was in favour of stopping the seasonal time change.
As for the time regime that Belgium should permanently adopt, 50% of respondents indicated their preference for winter time while 45% preferred summer time.
The Brussels Times
