It is often said at the end of October that the clocks are changed from summer time to winter time, in connection with the change of time in autumn. According to the Swiss Federal Institute of Metrology (Metas), there is only standard time and summer time. The standard time in Switzerland has been Central European Time for 125 years.
Daylight saving time has been in effect in Switzerland since 1981. Since 1996, people in all EU countries have put their clocks forward one hour on the last Sunday in March and one hour on the last Sunday in October. On Sunday, March 26, 2023, the clock will return to daylight saving time.
Time change controversial
The change between standard time and summer time is controversial in this country and the EU. In March 2019, the EU Parliament called for the abolition of the time change in 2021. But to date, not all necessary decisions have been taken by all individual states at EU level.
According to Metas, Switzerland is following developments in neighboring countries and will carefully examine whether any adjustments to the time arrangement make sense and are in Switzerland’s interest. It is stated that the current time arrangement is valid for now.
A federal public attempt to abolish the time shift failed nearly two years ago. The idea of the committee around Lucerne Senior Vice President National Assembly Member Yvette Estermann was that in the future Central European Time should be valid in Switzerland all year round.
With the introduction of the Central European Time and also the introduction of the time change, the Federal Council and the Parliament decided, primarily for economic reasons, to regulate a time corresponding to the time of the neighboring countries. If there were regulations deviating from regulations in neighboring countries, Switzerland would become an island of time – with relevant consequences, especially in the fields of business transactions, transport, tourism and communications. (SDA)