Lithuania and the rest of the European Union will move clocks forward by one hour on Sunday as daylight saving time begins, renewing debate over the long-contested practice of seasonal time changes.
Lithuanian Transport Minister Juras Taminskas criticised the system this week, arguing that the issue is not whether summer or winter time is used, but the need to switch between them.
“It is unfortunate that European leaders have still not found agreement on this simple question,” Taminskas said in a statement Wednesday. He added that he was not optimistic a common decision would be reached soon and called on the European Commission to focus on “practical, real work rather than bureaucracy”.
However, responsibility for the stalled reform lies largely with the Council of the European Union, where member states remain divided on whether to abolish seasonal clock changes.
A Commission spokesperson, Anna-Kaisa Itkonen, said countries should ultimately decide whether to adopt permanent summer or winter time but stressed that a coordinated solution is still possible.
The European Commission first proposed ending seasonal clock changes in 2018 following public consultations, European Parliament backing and studies examining the impacts of the system. However, member states have yet to agree on a common position, and successive EU presidencies have avoided pushing the issue due to a lack of consensus.
Lithuania is set to hold the rotating EU presidency starting January 1, 2027, giving it an opportunity to place the issue back on the bloc’s agenda.
The Commission has launched a new impact assessment examining how ending clock changes would affect sectors such as the EU single market, transport, energy use, public health and road safety. The study is expected to be completed by the end of 2026.
Speaking in the European Parliament last October, Transport and Tourism Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas said the practice of changing clocks was introduced in many countries in the 1970s in response to an energy crisis but is no longer effective due to technological advances.
He also acknowledged that seasonal time changes can negatively affect health – particularly for children and older people – as well as productivity, metabolism and road safety.
Newsletter
Every Friday morning.
