A majority of the European parliament on Tuesday voted in favour of plans to stop resetting the clock in spring and autumn by 2021. If European member states, including the Netherlands, also back the plan, then the EU will begin phasing out the change in a ‘coordinated and harmonised’ way.

Christian Democrat MEP Annie Schreijer-Pierik, who has campaigned against putting the clock forward in spring and back in winter, said on her website she is ‘extraordinarily happy’ with the vote.

‘The health of some 500 million EU inhabitants will benefit,’ she said. ‘Scientists have shown that it hits our biorhythms and some people develop high blood pressure and heart problems,’ she said.

Four in 10 of the Dutch would like to switch to permanent winter time which means it would get dark earlier in the summer, according to a snap poll of 1,800 people by the home affairs ministry last year.

There are currently three time zones within the EU. The clocks go forward in the Netherlands this weekend.