Directive 2000/84/EC Sets the 25 October Clock Change; a 2018 Proposal Awaits the Council

On 25 October 2026, clocks across the European Union move back by one hour. The date comes from Directive 2000/84/EC, which requires every member state to make the change on the same Sunday. The Commission’s summer-time page says summer time was introduced in the last century to save energy, particularly during wartime and the 1970s oil crisis. The EU gradually adopted legislation from 1980 to end diverging national clock-change schedules.

A 2018 Commission proposal would end the twice-yearly switch. Parliament backed a stop in 2019, but the Council of the EU has not yet adopted its position, so the directive still governs this October. Parltrack lists the file as awaiting the Council’s first-reading position.

How the Directive Sets the Change Date

The directive fixes the change in GMT rather than in local clock time. Article 2 starts summer time at 1:00 a.m. GMT on the last Sunday in March, and Article 3 ends it at the same hour on the final Sunday of October. Article 1 defines summer time as clocks put forward by 60 minutes. Article 4 requires the Commission to publish a communication in the Official Journal listing the start and end dates for the following five years, and to repeat this every five years.

Article 5 required the Commission to report on the directive’s impact to Parliament, the Council and the Economic and Social Committee by 31 December 2007.

In 2026 the final Sunday of October is 25 October, so the change takes place overnight on 24–25 October. Sortiraparis describes 25 October as the earliest possible date for the change under the rule. It gives the night as the one from Saturday, 24 October, to Sunday, 25 October, when clocks at 3 a.m. return to 2 a.m. Under the directive’s 1:00 GMT rule, Central European clocks show 3 a.m. summer time at the moment of the change and move back to 2 a.m.

The Commission’s summer-time page dates the requirement to 2001. Articles 2 and 3 of the directive apply the simultaneous start and end from 2002 onward. Under the same rule, the next change falls on the last Sunday of March 2027, which is 28 March.

The Rule in the Directive
Directive 2000/84/EC sets summer time to end on the final Sunday of October and to start on the last Sunday in March, both at 1:00 GMT. It has applied since 2001.

Which Time Zones Are Affected

The Commission’s summer-time page lists three standard time zones in the EU. Western European Time covers Ireland and Portugal. Central European Time applies in 17 member states. Eastern European Time applies in eight: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania and Romania.

Article 6 of the directive excludes member states’ overseas territories from its scope. Because the change is tied to GMT, the local clock time at which it happens differs from one zone to another.

What the 2018 Commission Proposal Would Do

On 12 September 2018 the Commission proposed ending seasonal clock changes across the EU and repealing Directive 2000/84/EC. The Commission’s summer-time page describes the proposal as ending the changes in 2019. Under the proposal, member states would keep a standard time of their choice. The Commission’s public consultation drew about 4.6 million replies, with 84% favouring an end to the changes and 16% wanting to keep them.

Parltrack lists the Commission proposal as COM(2018)0639 and the Parliament committee report as A8-0169/2019, tabled for plenary on 7 March 2019.

Parliament adopted its first-reading position on 26 March 2019 by 410 votes to 192, with 51 abstentions. Its text proposed postponing the end of the changes from 2019 to 2021. Sortiraparis adds that the text left each member state to choose permanent daylight saving time or permanent standard time.

Where the Procedure Stands in the Council

The procedure was resumed on 13 November 2024 as business carried over from the previous parliamentary term, and no Council first-reading position has been recorded in Parltrack. Parltrack also lists a Commission response to the Parliament text on 30 July 2019, and a decision on 9 October 2019 to enter interinstitutional negotiations.

Sortiraparis reports that the Council has no majority, with some governments favouring summer time and others standard time. The Commission’s summer-time page says the Council has not yet finalised its position, and that the Council and Parliament must agree before the proposal can take legal effect.

Sortiraparis also reports that even with a rapid agreement, the final switch would not occur before 2027, or even 2028. It cites a separate 2019 consultation in the French National Assembly, in which about 84% favoured ending the clock change and about 59% backed permanent daylight saving time.

The Council of the EU has not yet adopted its position, so the directive still governs this October.

Conflicting Reports on the Commission’s Next Step

Sortiraparis reports that the Commission has put the issue back into its 2026 work programme. The Commission’s summer-time page lists a communication titled ‘Schedule for the summer-time period’, issued under Article 4 of the directive.

Sortiraparis reports that Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez proposed ending the change from 2026 at an Energy and Transport Council meeting in Luxembourg on 20 October 2025. It also reports that Finland and Poland back the initiative, and, citing L’EnerGeek, that Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen argued ending the twice-yearly change is the most logical path.

What Travellers Should Check Around the Change

Because the change is set at 1:00 GMT, it happens at the same moment in every zone but at different local clock times.

Sortiraparis states that the 2000 directive remains in force and that the 2026 timetable stands. Until the Council acts, the twice-yearly rule remains the basis for EU clock times, and the next scheduled change is 28 March 2027. Article 4 communications are published in the Official Journal, where the schedule for each five-year period is set out.

Photo: Julian Lupyan · CC0 · via Wikimedia Commons