interviews: Nina Vaclavikova
Italian lawmakers are preparing to consider whether the country should end the long-standing practice of shifting clocks twice a year, following the rapid growth of an online petition that has gathered more than 353,000 signatures.
The campaign, promoted by the Italian Society of Environment Energy (SIMA) and the consumer advocacy group Consumerismo No Profit, calls for making Daylight Saving Time, or Ora Legale, permanent. Supporters argue that keeping the clocks forward year-round would reduce energy consumption amid rising utility costs and could offer health benefits by extending evening daylight.
A request for a fact-finding investigation is expected to be submitted to the Chamber of Deputies on Monday. If approved, the review could open the way to a parliamentary process aimed at abolishing Standard Time, or Ora Solare. According to public broadcaster RAI News, the procedure would need to be completed by June 30, 2026, to allow lawmakers to draft legislation that would keep Italy on permanent Daylight Saving Time.
The petition calls on the Italian government, as well as the European Commission and European Parliament, to eliminate seasonal clock changes. Advocates say extending daylight into the early evening would help households and businesses rely less on artificial lighting and heating. They estimate potential savings of roughly €1 billion in the first two years, as well as an annual reduction of around 200,000 tons of carbon emissions.
As debate grows, In Trieste, we walked through the city’s downtown streets to gauge local reaction. Residents offered a mix of curiosity, caution and enthusiasm about the possibility of keeping the country on summer time all year.
Italy, like all European Union member states except Iceland, adjusts its clocks on the last Sunday in March and the last Sunday in October. The next scheduled shift will take place on March 29, 2026, when clocks are set forward an hour.
The tradition of changing clocks dates back more than a century, introduced long before the spread of modern electric lighting as a way to make better use of natural daylight. Yet in recent years the practice has faced renewed scrutiny across Europe. In 2019 the European Parliament backed a plan to abolish the biannual time change across the bloc, though the proposal stalled during the coronavirus pandemic. Under that framework, member states would choose to adopt either permanent summer time or permanent winter time, coordinating their decisions to avoid disruptions to cross-border trade.
The European Union currently spans three time zones, from Greenwich Mean Time in Ireland and Portugal to Eastern European Time in countries such as Greece and Finland. Italy has observed the seasonal time change continuously since 1966, with earlier periods of observance in the first half of the 20th century.
Whether the latest petition will be enough to accelerate national debate remains uncertain. But with hundreds of thousands of Italians calling for change — and conversations unfolding on city streets — lawmakers may soon take a closer look at how the country keeps time.
