According to information from the newspaper, more than 80 percent of survey participants called for an end to the back and forth between summer and Daylight Savings Time (DST). Most wanted to remain in the summer time mode, according to dpa. Of the 4.6 million people participating in the survey, more than three million were from Germany.

After the end of the public survey in mid-August, the EU Commission communicated the number of participants, but said nothing about the results or the regional distribution of the participants. A spokeswoman said on Tuesday evening that Commissioner Violeta Bulc wanted to first inform colleagues internally about the results, and then the Commission would discuss the next steps.

At the request of the European Parliament, the Brussels authority is currently examining how to go on with the time change, which is regulated by EU law. According to the Commission, the online survey was expressly not intended as a referendum or sole determination of how to proceed. Participants were able to indicate whether they would like to continue with the time change or to abolish it. If they wanted to abolish it, they also could choose whether they would prefer to remain permanently on summer time or DST.

Peter Liese, a member of the European Parliament, said in the “Westfalenpost” that he was for a swift proposal by the European Commission to abolish the time change. "Then the law could be passed before the European elections next May," said Liese. "If the result of a public survey is so obvious, the European committees should not ignore it."

However, the time change is obviously a very big topic, especially in Germany. A new regulation would have to apply throughout the EU. The EU Commission has the right to make a proposal, and the European Parliament and the member states decide. Orig. text: dpa, Translation: ck