Romania switches to summer time in 2024 on the night from Saturday to Sunday. Clocks move forward one hour and 3:00 a.m. becomes 4:00 a.m., so the last Sunday in March will have just 23 hours, making it the shortest day of 2024.

Why is there a transition to summer time in 2024

The switch from winter time to summer time has been hotly debated in recent years, with the European Parliament recommending that the change be phased out starting in 2021. European Union member states had until 2021 to announce whether they wanted to permanently apply summer time. summer or winter time. However, for now, the debate remains up in the air.

How did you come to the proposal to abandon the time change? In response to citizens’ initiatives, in February 2018 the Parliament asked the Commission to evaluate the directive on seasonal time change and to make proposals for its changes, if necessary.

After this evaluation, which collected 4.6 million responses, of which 84% were in favor of rejecting the time change, the Commission made a proposal.

The European Commission explained that the EU’s summer time measures require the time to be changed twice a year to account for the change in daylight hours and to make the most of the daylight available at certain times. Clocks go forward one hour on the morning of the last Sunday in March and back one hour on the morning of the last Sunday in October to return to standard time.

Who first introduced summer time?

The Germans were the first to introduce summer time, starting in 1916 (from April 30 to October 1). The British followed suit, introducing daylight saving time also in 1916 (between May 21 and October 16). Other countries that have implemented summer time are Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Turkey and Tasmania.

On March 19, 1918, daylight saving time was also introduced in the United States, but it was used only until 1919. Due to the opposition of farmers, the transition to daylight saving time was abandoned. The greatest confusion arose in the United States, where each state had its own rule for the implementation of daylight saving time, and this situation persisted until 1966.

So far, 70 countries have implemented summer time. Daylight saving time is not used in countries on the equator and the Tropic of Capricorn. Two major countries, Japan and China, do not use daylight saving time.

The EU first unified daylight saving time in 1980 to ensure a uniform approach to it within the single market.

When summer time was introduced in Romania

Daylight saving time was first introduced in Romania in 1932 (from May 22 to October 2). From 1933 to 1940, when this custom was abandoned, daylight saving time was introduced from the first Sunday in April to the first Sunday in October.

From 1941 to 1979, daylight saving time was no longer used. DST was reintroduced in 1979.

In 1979, Romania signed the Convention on Time Zones, and in 1997 – Ordinance no. 20/1997 on the establishment of summer time and official summer time on the territory of Romania, which in article (1) states that: “The summer time schedule establishes the official summer time shifted one hour ahead of European Eastern time, applicable from 3:00 a.m. on the last Sunday in March, which becomes 4:00 a.m., to 4:00 a.m. on the last Sunday in October, which becomes 3:00 a.m.’

Until 1996 (with a few exceptions), summer time was introduced from the end of March to the end of September. Since 1997, we switch to summer time from the last Sunday of March to the last Sunday of October.

How will daylight saving time affect us and how long can it last?

An EU survey of 4.6 million people shows that people experience physical and mental discomfort due to the time change. People have difficulty falling asleep or even insomnia. About 40 percent of respondents said they had trouble concentrating, and a third felt irritable.

Some people complain of severe fatigue after the transition to daylight saving time – when the hands of the clock are moved forward one hour – possibly accompanied by a feeling of discomfort and even a headache.

Three-quarters (76%) of respondents consider the twice-yearly time change a “very negative” or “negative” experience. Among the reasons why the respondents want to abandon the time shift are considerations related to the negative impact on health, an increase in the number of road accidents, and insufficient energy savings.

The time change affects both adults and children, with studies finding lower science scores in the first week after DST compared to the previous week.

In the case of adults, daylight saving time is most often associated with sleep disturbances, but studies also show a slightly higher risk of acute myocardial infarction in the first week after the time change, Florina Anichitoae, a clinical psychologist, psychotherapist and doctoral student in psychology, explained to HotNews.ro.

There are studies in the literature that consider the extent to which people are affected by the change in time. It has been shown that there is a significant increase in sleep latency, which can take the form of difficulty adjusting to the new sleep time and the constancy of the internal clock, which remains set to the time until the change.

In addition, people who suffer from jet lag experience increased fatigue and sleepiness during the day. Those with poor sleep quality or regular shorter sleep durations are most at risk of experiencing the effects of jet lag.

It was also noted that some people needed at least a week to adapt to the new time. There is a cumulative effect of sleep loss, both in falling asleep at night and waking up in the morning, which is gradually corrected after nine o’clock.

Tips on how to cope with time changes more easily

There are several recommendations for better adaptation to the changes that occur in the body through the change of time, says psychologist Florina Anichitoae:

• It is recommended to get enough sleep in the week before the change to the new time, which can help with the next change.
• Try to go to bed earlier in the first week after the new time.
• Limiting the use of blue light screens before bedtime, so that their influence does not affect the addition of changes already due to the nine o’clock shift.
• Limiting mental activity and vigorous exercise before bed to allow the body to prepare for sleep by integrating the new changes.