European Parliament wants to ditch time change in 2021

STRASBOURG, France (AP) - The European Parliament has overwhelmingly approved a measure to abolish the twice-yearly time change in 2021.

The proposal now goes to European Union member states for further negotiations.

EU legislators voted 410-192 with 51 abstentions on Tuesday to scrap changing the clocks, which has been a rite of spring and fall for decades.

But lawmakers haven't yet decided on whether summer or winter time should be adopted as the standard since there are divisions within the EU as to which one should be chosen.

Many member states instituted the time change during the 1970s oil crisis as an attempt to save energy. Since 1996, all EU countries change their times simultaneously.

An EU consultation of the public last year showed that 84 percent were against changing the clock.