Why Europe still turns its clocks back twice a year despite a 2019 EU vote to stop

Clocks across the European Union move back one hour during the night of October 24-25, 2026, at 3:00 a.m., which becomes 2:00 a.m., according to euronews. The change marks the end of summer time (CEST) and the start of standard winter time (CET), even though the European Parliament voted in 2019 to end the twice-yearly switch altogether.

A 2019 vote that never became law

The European Parliament approved a directive to abolish seasonal clock changes on 26 March 2019, by 410 votes to 192, according to euronews and a European Parliament briefing document. The plan was meant to take effect from 2021, letting each country choose whether to stay on permanent summer or permanent winter time.

That vote never became binding law because the Council of the European Union, which represents national governments, has to agree its own position before the directive can be finalised. According to The Local and euronews, the Council last discussed the file substantively in December 2019 and has still not adopted a position on the Commission's proposal.

Why governments cannot agree

The core disagreement is which time zone to keep permanently, euronews and The Local both report. Some countries favour permanent summer time for longer evening daylight; others prefer permanent winter time, closer to solar noon. Officials also worry that if neighbouring countries pick different permanent times, Europe could end up with a confusing patchwork of time zones, complicating cross-border transport, trade and coordination.

The Local reports a specific complication tied to the UK's exit from the EU: ending the switch could, in principle, have split the island of Ireland into two time zones for half the year, since Northern Ireland follows UK time while the Republic of Ireland follows EU rules. The same report notes that support for ending the change was below 50% in Cyprus, Greece and Malta, weakening the push for a quick EU-wide fix.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the war following Russia's invasion of Ukraine also pushed the file down the EU's priority list, according to euronews reporting from October 2026.

What the EU's own evidence shows

The European Commission ran a public consultation on the issue in 2018. About 84% of respondents said they favoured ending the seasonal clock change, according to euronews reporting on the consultation.

The original rationale for the twice-yearly change was energy saving: euronews Turkish reports that France introduced summer time in 1976 in response to the oil crisis for that reason. The same report notes that this justification has largely lost relevance today.

The debate resumes in October 2026

On 21 October 2026, 44 members of the European Parliament from 15 countries and six political groups wrote to EU transport ministers asking them to restart the stalled talks, according to World Today News. German MEP and physician Peter Liese, who led the initiative, said the repeated clock changes cause measurable health effects, including sleep disturbances, fatigue and difficulty concentrating.

The European Commission has commissioned a new impact study expected by the end of 2026, the same report says, but as of the October clock change there has been no public response from the Council of the EU to the MEPs' letter.

Turkey is not affected

Turkey does not take part in the October change. According to Evrensel, Turkey keeps the UTC+3 time zone year-round under its current practice, so clocks there will not move on 25 October 2026.