Punctual as every year, on the night between Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th March 2026 the hands of Italian clocks will move forward by sixty minutes: one hour less sleep, more light in the evening, and the ritual sense of disorientation of the following days. An appointment that Italians know by heart, and yet, for the first time, the possibility that it could be one of the last concretely arises.
The Chamber of Deputies has in fact approved the launch of a fact-finding investigation into permanent summer time: a formal but significant step, which officially opens the institutional debate on one of the daily changes most felt by the population.
A process that comes from afar
The discussion is not new. It was 2018 when the European Commission launched a public consultation on the topic, gathering the response of 4.6 million European citizens: 84% declared themselves in favor of the abolition of the double time change. The following year, the European Parliament approved a proposal for a directive that would have left individual states the freedom to choose between permanent summer or standard time. Then the pandemic arrived, the differences between the member countries worsened, and the dossier ended up in the drawer.
Today that proposal is circulating again, this time starting from Rome. At the instigation of the Italian Society of Environmental Medicine (Sima), of Non-profit Consumerism and of the deputy Andrea Barabotti (Lega), the X Chamber Commission – Productive Activities, Commerce and Tourism – approved last November the start of the fact-finding investigation on the impact of permanent summer time “on the national territory: effects and repercussions on the sectors”.
The numbers that matter: 12 billion kWh and 2.3 billion in savings
The heart of the debate is, first of all, economic and energetic. The official data provided by Terna speak clearly: from 2004 to 2025, summer time allowed Italy to consume less electricity by more than 12 billion kWh, translating into savings on bills for citizens of approximately 2.3 billion euros.
Figures that take on even more weight if we consider the environmental dimension. According to the Italian Society of Environmental Medicine, thanks to summer time, CO₂ emissions are reduced by between 160,000 and 200,000 tons each year — a benefit equivalent to that of planting 2 to 6 million new trees.
Three studies presented at the European level also agree on the fact that abolishing the seasonal change and adopting a single system for the whole year would bring further advantages: structural energy savings, benefits for the internal market and for the transport sector.
What does the fact-finding investigation involve?
The investigation approved by the Chamber has precise and ambitious objectives. In the document that starts it, four axes of work are outlined:
The next step: the auditions
In the coming months, representatives of institutions, independent authorities, the European Commission and the EU Parliament, international organisations, trade associations such as Confindustria, Confcommercio and Confartigianato, consumer associations and academics will be asked to speak before the Commission. A broad, transversal comparison, which will have to provide Parliament and the Government with an updated picture of the benefits and critical issues of the measure.
The investigation must be completed by June 30, 2026.
Daylight Saving Time or Standard Time? The debate is open
The question at the center of the debate is not trivial: if it were decided to adopt summer time permanently, the winter days would begin with dawn which – in the northernmost regions – would slip well past 9 in the morning. A non-trivial compromise for those who work or study in the early morning hours. On the other hand, brighter evenings mean less artificial lighting, more time for outdoor activities, and — according to some studies — even positive effects on mental and physical health linked to greater exposure to natural light in the afternoon.
The stakes are high, and the debate is destined to heat up in the coming weeks. For the moment, Sunday 29 March, the alarm will still ring an hour earlier.
THEThe 2026 time change will take place on the night between Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 March: at 2:00 the hands will advance to 3:00.
