Offbeat | Finns to lobby EU for abolition of daylight saving time

Finland says it will lobby for the abolition of daylight saving time within the European Union after more than 70,000 Finns signed a petition last year.

Anne Berner, Finland’s transportation and communications minister, said Friday on Twitter that the government’s goal “would be to abandon [the practice] in a uniform manner within the EU.”

No EU member can independently end the practice of advancing clocks by an hour during summer months so that evening daylight lasts longer. All 27 member states must make the change together.

A parliamentary committee in Finland has concluded changing the clocks causes short-term sleeping disorders, reduced performance at work and could also lead to serious health problems.

In Finland, parliament must consider a petition containing at least 50,000 signatures.

The Finns may be particularly irritated by daylight savings because they see little benefit to themselves from it.

One of the world’s northernmost countries stretching some 1,160 kilometers from north to south, the sun does not set for 73 consecutive days during summer at Finland’s northernmost point. During the winter months, the sun doesn’t rise at all for 51 days in Lapland, northern Finland.