European Union law requires all member countries to observe daylight saving time by moving clocks forward by an hour on the last Sunday of March and back by an hour on the last Sunday of October.
Time to scrap clock shifts?
In 2019, the European Parliament voted in favour of ending the practice of changing clocks twice a year.
EU lawmakers agreed to scrap the time changes, leaving it up to individual member states to decide whether to adopt permanent summer or winter time.
However, before a final decision can be made, the issue must still be addressed by national governments.
The plan has since stalled due to opposition from some EU countries, the AFP news agency reported.
Go-ahead from Brussels
European Commission spokeswoman Anna-Kaisa Itkonen on Thursday encouraged Poland to revive discussions on the issue during its EU presidency until July, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
"We believe that a coordinated solution is still achievable, and we encourage renewed discussions under the current presidency," Itkonen said, as cited by the AFP.
Poland aims to break deadlock
Poland's government has expressed its commitment to breaking the deadlock, with Development and Technology Minister Krzysztof Paszyk discussing the matter with EU Transport and Tourism Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas, according to his ministry.
"We have the full support of the commissioner when it comes to scrapping the time change practice," Małgorzata Dzieciniak, the development ministry’s spokeswoman, told public broadcaster Polish Radio on Wednesday.
Most Poles oppose time changes
Meanwhile, 78.3 percent of Poles are against moving clocks forward in spring and then back again in the autumn, according to the PAP news agency.
More than 74 percent of respondents opt for permanent summer time, while the remainder say they prefer to stick with winter time, the study by pollster CBOS found in March 2019.
Only 14.2 percent of Poles are in favour of retaining the twice-a-year time shift, according to the study, PAP reported.
Poland has been part of the European Union since 2004.
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Source: IAR, PAP, polskieradio24.pl, AFP