Solar noon, or the solar meridian, is the time of day in which the sun is highest in the sky. If our times were completely natural, solar noon would be at 12 PM

Solar noon, or the solar meridian, is the time of day in which the sun is highest in the sky. If our times were completely natural, solar noon would be at 12 PM exactly. Today, the solar meridian in Madrid is at 12:59 PM, while the solar meridian in Belgrade is at 11:23 AM. This is because Madrid and Belgrade are within the same time zone, in order to more easily coordinate European commerce. If that's an acceptable tradeoff, I don't really see the issue in drifting something on the order of dozens-to-hundreds of seconds per century.