Central European Time - referendum

STATES OF JERSEY

CENTRAL EUROPEAN TIME: REFERENDUM

Lodged au Greffe on 21st April 2008 by Senator J.L. Perchard

STATES GREFFE

PROPOSITION

THE STATES are asked to decide whether they are of opinion

( a ) t o agree that a referendum in accordance with the Referendum (Jersey) Law 2002 on the

introduction of Central European Time should be held on Wednesday 15th October 2008, being the day of the senatorial elections;

(b ) to agree that the text of the question should be –

1 . D o   y ou think that Jersey should adopt Central European Time?

    Y E  S   N O  

( c ) t o request the Chief Minister to take the necessary steps to implement the referendum on

Wednesday 15th October 2008.

SENATOR J.L. PERCHARD

REPORT

In this report I do not make reference to the benefits or otherwise of Jersey joining the CET zone; clearly should the majority of members support this proposition a public debate will begin and a referendum will be held that will determine the  level of public support for the  proposal  to adopt CET.  Depending on the  result  of  the referendum the States may in the future be requested to debate a new proposition to adopt CET and the detail of any change.

The Referendum (Jersey) Law 2002 permits the States by Act to resolve that a referendum be held on any matter. Should members adopt this proposition, a first and momentous step will have been taken in agreeing that Jersey's first ever referendum will be held. Approval of this proposition will require the Chief Minister to bring the detail of the Act to the States before the summer recess.

It is often argued that referenda are too simplistic a governmental tool, in that the complexities of a subject cannot be defined and answered by a single question that requires a Yes/No' answer. Whilst this is generally and often a valid argument, the CET question as drafted will prompt an instant response, as it is clear and unambiguous and immediately identifiable to the voter. This is not a question about, for example, new and complicated tax proposals, where the answer could be predictable given the level of information provided to the voter. This is not a complex question that requires 2 or more answers. I suggest this is a perfect referendum question in which to accurately gauge the public viewpoint.

If the strength of public opinion is proved by a referendum to be such that a majority of the electorate voted in favour of moving to CET, the States will be required only after receipt of a new and specific Report and Proposition to decide on the matter. However, I expect that the States would wish to support the move to CET if there was a clear mandate given by voters.

The effect of changing to the CET zone would require clocks in Jersey to be advanced throughout the year by one hour. Winter would be one hour ahead of Greenwich Mean Time and summer 2  hours ahead. This would increase daylight by one hour in the evenings and decrease it by the same amount in the mornings. It would also bring time in Jersey in line with that of our French neighbours and most European countries.

I am aware that this subject was recently debated by the States of Guernsey, where I understand a great deal of support was expressed for the principle of moving to CET, confirmed by their agreement to prepare a report and consult the Guernsey public, Jersey and other Channel Island authorities. Concerns were expressed in the Guernsey debate about Guernsey "going it alone". I would expect we in Jersey to have similar concerns, therefore I would hope that any move in-line with the CET zone would be a joint Channel Island initiative.

Finally, I am proposing that the referendum be held on Wednesday, 15th October 2008 which is the date arranged for the 2008 senatorial elections. To achieve this objective a final' decision of the States to approve the Act under the Referendum Law will be required before the summer recess. The Act sets out "in legal terms" all the arrangements for this particular referendum to be held.

Financial and manpower implications

There are no financial implications associated directly with this Report and Proposition. However, if the States were to approve the proposition and approve the Act that would be bound to follow, I estimate that the cost of holding a referendum at the same time as the 2008 senatorial elections is unlikely to exceed £5,000.

There are no manpower implications for the States associated with this proposition.

CET: Summary of main points

The clocks in Jersey are currently set to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) in the winter and are moved on by one hour to British Summer Time (BST) in the summer (GMT+1).

The proposal to move in line with the European Time Zone would advance the clocks in Jersey by one hour throughout the year.

If we were to opt in, we would operate Central European Time (GMT+1) in winter and Central European Summer Time (GMT+2) in summer.

Joining the Central European Time Zone would provide one extra hour of daylight in the evening throughout the year. However, mornings would be darker for one extra hour.

Joining the Central European Time Zone would put Jersey on the same time as France and most countries in Central and Western Europe, who also advance clocks in their summer.

E.U. proposed timing for clock changes in the next 3 years Central European Summer Time begins (clocks go forward) on –

29th March 2009 28th March 2010

27th March 2011 Central European Summer Time ends (clocks go backward) on –

26th October 2008 25th October 2009 31st October 2010

Time Zones of Europe:

blue Western European Time (UTC+0) Western European Summer Time (UTC+1)

Central European Time (UTC+1)

red

Central European Summer Time (UTC+2) yellow Eastern European Time (UTC+2)

Eastern European Summer Time (UTC+3) Moscow Time (UTC+3)

green

Moscow Summer Time (UTC+4)

Reproduced from Wikipedia under the GNU Free Documentation Licence.

* The difference between Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) and Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) never exceeds

0.9 second; therefore for the purpose of this proposition the difference can be ignored.