Arctic region of Norway asks EU Commission for 26-hour day

Norway’s northernmost region has asked the European Commission to grant it permission to establish a time zone with 26-hour days.

Excuse me? Say that again.

Traditional (boring) 24-hour days: out. Modern (revolutionary) 26-hour days: in.

The bizarre plan, promoted by a local town mayor in the Arctic Circle near the Russian border, aims to boost local values, increase family time and attract new residents to the region. All nice ideas, but in practice, the details remain at best fuzzy.

In its letter to the European Commission — which confirmed that it has received the request — the region is asking the EU body to instruct Norwegian authorities to approve the creation of a time zone with 26 hour-days instead of 24-hour days.

How would the new time zones work in practice? Wenche Pedersen, the mayor of Vadsø who authored the letter, is unsure.

“We haven’t thought a lot about that” she said. “The clock will go from 12 to 13… and we have to see how this will go. I don’t think they’re going to say yes so we haven’t thought about all the details.”

Right.

According to Pedersen, the region has been struggling to attract new residents. But the mayor is hoping this will change by showcasing the area’s unique values.

“Through our ‘MOREtime’ project, we aim to celebrate and promote this unique way of life, offering individuals the opportunity to enjoy more quality time engaging in activities such as fishing, hunting, learning new languages, or simply being with loved ones,” Vadsø said in a letter.

“What is the good thing about living here? It’s the time,” she told POLITICO.

“We don’t run after the buses or after the trains or have to take a long time to travel to work and so on,” she added. “We are very satisfied with living in a part of Norway where we have more time to be with our friends, with our family and together.”

By extending the length of the days, Pedersen hopes that more people will be inspired to move to the remote region. Ensuring that the area is populated is “more important than ever” in light of Russia’s war against Ukraine, Pedersen added.

“We like our lifestyle and we think that could be very exciting, especially for families with small children,” the mayor said. “I think it’s a more calm and better everyday life than for example in a big city.”

Could it actually happen?

Norway is not an EU member, but the country is part of the European Economic Area (EEA). While a EU directive regulates summer time arrangements, whether it has authority over creating separate time zones is another question.

According to a Commission official, time zones are a matter for countries themselves, so it’s unlikely that the EU will be able to grant the region’s request.

Nevertheless, Pedersen is hoping to at least spread the word about the uniqueness of northern Norway.

“In this respect we are one of the richest regions in Europe because […] we have more time,” Pedersen said.