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Whereas:

(1) The eighth Directive, 97/44/EC, of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 July 1997 on summer-time arrangements(4) introduced a common date and time in all Member States, for the beginning and end of summer time in 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001.

(2) Given that the Member States apply summer-time arrangements, it is important for the functioning of the internal market that a common date and time for the beginning and end of the summer-time period be fixed throughout the Community.

(3) Since the summer-time period considered most appropriate by the Member States runs from the end of March to the end of October, it is appropriate that that period therefore be maintained.

(4) The proper functioning of certain sectors, not only transport and communications, but also other sectors of industry, requires stable, long-term planning. Provisions concerning summer time should therefore be laid down for an unspecified period. Article 4 of Directive 97/44/EC provides, in that respect, that the European Parliament and the Council are to adopt, by 1 January 2001, the arrangements to apply from 2002 onwards.

(5) For reasons of clarity and accuracy of information, a timetable for the implementation of the summer-time period for the following five years should be published every five years.

(6) Implementation of this Directive should, moreover, be monitored by means of a report, to be presented by the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council and the Economic and Social Committee, on the impact of these provisions in all of the areas concerned. That report should be based on the information made available to the Commission by the Member States in sufficient time to enable the report to be presented at the specified time.

(7) Given that the complete harmonisation of the timetable for the summer-time period with a view to facilitating transport and communications cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States and can therefore be better achieved at Community level, the Community may take measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty. This Directive does not go beyond what is necessary to achieve those objectives.

(8) For geographical reasons, the common summer-time arrangements should not apply to the overseas territories of the Member States, HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE: