Ziga: Richter's Proposal on Abolishing Daylight Saving Time Not Final

Bratislava, November 4 (TASR) – There will still be a debate on whether or not to switch to daylight saving time in Slovakia, with Labour, Social Affairs and the Family Minister Jan Richter’s (Smer-SD) proposal on keeping the Central European Time throughout the year not to be considered as a final decision, Economy Minister Peter Ziga (Smer-SD) said on Markiza’s show ‘Na telo’ on Sunday.

Ziga said that he himself would prefer to have the daylight saving time throughout the year.

“I believe that it’s also necessary to listen to the business sector and chiefly our neighbours – the countries on which our trade depends,” said Ziga, adding that Foreign and European Affairs Minister Miroslav Lajcak (a Smer nominee) has been tasked to consult the issue at the Council of the EU.

Opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) MP Lubomir Galko, a former defence minister, agreed that it’s a polarising issue and a joint course of action of neighbouring countries is necessary.

“Many arguments could be found for both the winter and summer times. The final decision will be more a political than an expert one, however,” believes Galko.

He went on to ponder whether the issue actually is a pseudo-problem that’s been thrown by the European Commission as a potential bone of contention to the member states to demonstrate that they aren’t able to come to a consensus even on such a banal issue.