Morocco: return to Greenwich time

This page brings together a selection of articles and resources relating to the mobilization observed in Morocco around the issue of legal time.

From France, ACHED follows this development with particular attention. Morocco provides a remarkable example of a citizen movement advocating a return to the natural time zone in a country that has ended seasonal clock changes, but has been maintained since 2018 on an advanced legal time (GMT+1).

An online Moroccan petition on the Change.org platform has gathered more than 300,000 signatures in less than two months. The initiators highlight the social, psychological and economic impacts of maintaining GMT+1 and call for a structured public debate as well as an institutional response.

A new step was announced in early April: to move this mobilization from a largely informal register to a legally admissible petition within the framework of Morocco’s petition rights.

There has been mention of a paper petition, but also of the possibility of a legally valid online petition via the official Eparticipation portal. At ACHED, we hope this point will be clarified soon.

There is also talk of an appeal to all Moroccans, including those living abroad, particularly in France. The Association notes this point and hopes it will be heard.

For its part, ACHED calls on the French public to renew attention and debate on the issue, not only regarding seasonal clock changes, but also the alignment of legal noon with solar noon.

👉 Access petitions to end daylight saving time

In France, it is indeed commonly 2:00 pm (legal time) when the sun is at its highest point (solar noon).

Moreover, geographically, Morocco and France have similar solar noon times, and their natural time zone is the same: GMT, also known as the Greenwich time zone and more recently as UTC+0.

This page aims to facilitate access to this information in a dedicated space, making it easier to find, share and index.