On Tuesday, it seemed that the discussion on the time determination would be closed once and for all. The Law Committee had made a recommendation that Naalakkersuisut supported.
However, during the debate in Inatsisartut, Bo Martinsen (D) rose and proposed that the points be sent back to the Law Committee before the third reading. There was support for this, and thus the debate was interrupted.
Bo Martinsen himself is a member of the Law Committee and has therefore been part in making the recommendation that the current time zone be retained, but that daylight saving time be abolished. Nevertheless, he asked for more time for the committee's work.
- Basically, it's about the fact that I feel that we have a major job ahead of us. If it were up to me, there are some more hearings that we can maybe get started, he tells Sermitsiaq.
Whether there will be more hearings is up to the Law Committee, but Bo Martinsen would like as many as possible to be heard, both in the big cities and the small settlements.
- A change of one hour affects us all in one way or another. And it's not just a talk about one hour. It's our way of life, it's the way we go out and fish and catch.
- It's something that will affect everyone. It's fishermen, it's fishermen, it's office workers, it's teachers, it's doctors, it's patients at hospitals in Denmark and in other parts of the world. It's our business life. It's everyone. High and low are affected in one way or another, says Bo Martinsen.
When will daylight saving time be abolished?
Naleraq and Siumut had both proposed that Greenland set the clock back one hour, so that we will once again be in UTC-3. However, the Law Committee's recommendation was rejected.
However, the opposition parties and the Law Committee agree to abolish daylight saving time, so that in the future we will not have to move the clock every six months. Inatsisartut decided this already in 2019, but has been waiting for the EU.
However, on Tuesday, the chairman of Naalakkersuisut, Jens-Frederik Nielsen (D), said that they are ready to abolish daylight saving time from 1 January 2028.
The question is whether that decision will still stand after the points have been passed by the committee again.
- It has been decided that we will abolish daylight saving time. The question is when and how we can do it, so that it has the best possible effect for our entire welfare society, says Bo Martinsen.
If Greenland abolishes summer time before the EU, we will be three hours from Denmark in the winter months and four hours in the summer months.
Fear of the timing
According to the plan, the items are to be discussed for the third time on May 15. But time will tell whether the committee will be ready by that time, says Bo Martinsen.
If the debate is postponed, it will be yet another in a long series of postponements of the proposals on the timing.
The items were supposed to be completed at the autumn session 2025, but the second reading was pushed to the winter session – which was then postponed due to the extensive work of handling the USA situation. At the spring session this year, the items were first set for April 14, but the Law Committee requested a postponement of the items.
What do you think makes it so difficult to make a decision on this?
- Well, I don't know if there is some fear of contact for anyone, or what it is. But again, it is precisely because it has such a large touch surface that it actually does.
- It is not just a decision. It is something that will affect everyone. So that is why it is also an enormously important topic to raise, and it is an enormously important decision to make, says Bo Martinsen.
He acknowledges that it will be impossible to please everyone on this point, but to achieve what is best for everyone, the committee must spend more time.
