Summer time could become permanent in Italy: the launch of a fact-finding investigation «on the impact of permanent summer time on the national territory: effects and repercussions on the sectors» has been approved by the X Commission of the Chamber of Deputies (Production activities, trade and tourism), which should be concluded by 30 June 2026.
The abolition of the alternation between solar time and summer time – scheduled for the night between 28 and 29 March 2026 – is a widely debated topic, not only in our country but also and above all at a European level: already in 2019 the European Parliament had approved a proposal for a directive recognizing individual member states the freedom to choose between permanent summer or solar time. During the Covid-19 pandemic, however, the entire procedure was blocked and never relaunched also due to the difficulty of establishing a common time calendar across the European Union.
Among the reasons in favor of permanent summer time there are above all the potential energy and economic savings resulting from the reduction of consumption. According to Terna (the company that manages the national transmission network), between 2004 and 2025 summer time allowed overall savings of over 12 billion kWh, equal to savings for citizens of approximately 2.3 billion euros.
What the European Union says: the debate has stalled
As mentioned, the debate on the abolition of the exchange rate had already been started by the European Union in 2018, the year in which the European Commission launched a public consultation in which 4.6 million European citizens participated: 84% of these expressed their opinion in favor of eliminating the twice-yearly time alternation. Given the results, in 2019 the European Parliament approved a proposal for a directive that would have allowed individual Member States the freedom to choose which of the two time zones to make permanent, whether summer time or standard time.
Despite the attempts, the European process ran aground almost immediately, primarily due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which effectively slowed down the entire process. Among the problems, however, also emerged the difficulty of outlining a common time calendar throughout the European Union: the initial proposal allowed member states to freely choose between summer time and standard time, also on the basis of national needs, thus making it difficult to understand how to set up a “fixed time” system at community level.
The final decision from the EU Parliament should have arrived by 2021, but 5 years later the debate has not yet been reopened.
The state of the parliamentary process in Italy
In Italy, however, at what point are we with the approval process? In our country the debate on the introduction of permanent summer time was started in November 2025, with a proposal for a fact-finding investigation, accompanied by 352 thousand signatures, presented to the Chamber of Deputies and promoted by the Italian Society of Environmental Medicine (SIMA), by Consumerismo Non profit and by the deputy Andrea Barabotti (Lega).
Last March 11, the X Commission of the Chamber of Deputies approved this proposal, starting the fact-finding investigation to evaluate the impact of permanent summer time on the national territory. The press release released by the Commission states that «this study should involve research bodies and economic bodies, in order to provide Parliament and the Government with an updated picture of the benefits and critical issues of the measure».
More specifically, for the investigation a comparison was requested between the models that foresee the seasonal change of time and those that have adopted permanent summer time, as well as the evaluation of the socio-economic effects and of the repercussions on the productive fabric of the country in terms of potential energy saving and increase in productivity. At the same time, the Commission suggested also evaluating an experimental phase with an extension of summer time.
At this point, the next step will be the hearings of the subjects who will be called to express their opinion and present studies, research and data on the effects of permanent summer time. In this case, representatives of institutions, independent authorities, the European Commission and the EU Parliament will be heard, but also international organizations operating in the sector and trade associations (including Confindustria, Confcommercio and Confartigianato).
The final objective is to conclude the fact-finding investigation by June 30: in the meantime, the government is analyzing the 2025 energy balance data to decide whether to proceed with a decree by autumn 2026.
Energy and economic savings: what really changes
At this point, however, a spontaneous doubt arises: why is the permanent introduction of summer time being considered, when solar time is considered “natural” (because it follows the apparent motion of the Sun)?
The reason, as already mentioned, is the potential economic and energy savings that would be achieved by moving the clocks forward by an hour: according to Terna data (the company that manages the national transmission network), between March and October 2025 the Italian electricity system consumed 310 million kWh less, equal to the average needs of around 120,000 families over the course of a year. In practice, between 2004 and 2025 Italy saved a total of over 12 billion kWh thanks to summer time, which resulted, in economic terms, in savings for citizens of approximately 2.3 billion euros.
From the point of view of the effects of time alternation on the human body, several scientific studies have highlighted the negative impact of the time change on human health and, in particular, on the alteration of our body’s circadian rhythm. Specifically, changing the time twice a year would disrupt the natural sleep-wake cycle, making us feel tired, distracted and sleepy – especially during the first day of the time change – with the possibility of negatively influencing the number of heart attacks.
