Permanent Summer Time? Czech Government Drafts Clock-Change Schedule Five Years Ahead

The Czech government is preparing a decree that will set the dates for spring and autumn clock changes five years in advance. Formally, the country is obliged to do this under a directive of the European Parliament and the Council of 19 January 2001 governing summer time arrangements — the government cannot simply opt out, even if it wanted to.

Seasonal "summer time" has existed, on and off, in the Czech lands since 1916, when it was introduced to save resources during wartime rather than to give people more evening hours on their cottage porches. Even so, according to a recent opinion poll, two-thirds of Czechs now want to scrap the twice-yearly clock changes, with the figure rising to 80% among middle-aged and older respondents.

What's really wrong with changing the clocks

The main issue isn't which time zone applies, but the disruption to people's biorhythms caused by the switch itself. Some adjust easily, while others — especially in spring — struggle with the transition. The Czech Society of Cardiology has already weighed in on the topic. Yet scrapping the seasonal changes entirely isn't so simple: someone has to decide whether to keep "winter" or "summer" time permanently, and EU member states have been unable to agree on this for years.

Back in 2019, the EU came close to a decision, but no consensus was reached — partly because a unified time zone matters for international rail timetables and trade. Then the pandemic hit, and the issue was shelved. The European Commission is now preparing an impact assessment on abolishing seasonal time changes, but it's already clear that nothing will change before 2031.

Who wants eternal summer, and why

Interestingly, almost every European country observes summer time, with the exception of Russia, Belarus, Iceland, Greenland, and the Norwegian islands of Jan Mayen and Svalbard. This has less to do with politics than with geography: the further north a country lies, the less point there is in "extending" daylight hours in summer — white nights take care of that already.

In more southerly regions, by contrast, demand for permanent summer time is growing. About 40% of Czechs would like summer time to apply year-round — a view shared by US President Donald Trump, who likewise has yet to fully commit to scrapping seasonal clock changes, despite a bill drafted in Congress called the "Sunshine Protection Act."

What else would need to change along with the clocks

Should the Czech Republic switch to permanent summer time, the country's entire daily schedule would need reworking. Rural residents would no longer have to grumble about city dwellers "still sleeping" while the village is already up: factory whistles would sound later, hospital patients would get to sleep in a bit longer, and church services would no longer start at inconvenient hours.

Among the measures under discussion is shifting curfew from 10pm to 11pm, and pushing back the start of the evening children's programme "Večerníček" to around 7:45pm. School classes, meanwhile, wouldn't be able to start at eight in the morning or earlier, since for several months of the year children would otherwise have to walk to school in the dark — simply not safe.

The one thing the government is firmly committed to under any scenario is not changing the clocks on a public holiday, so as not to add extra confusion for Czechs who are busy enough as it is.

Around Prague, based on reporting by seznamzpravy.cz