Finland will switch back to standard time on Sunday, October 25, with clocks moving back one hour at 4 a.m. to 3 a.m.
The familiar ritual was once expected to disappear across the European Union. The European Commission proposed ending seasonal clock changes in 2018, and the European Parliament backed the plan the following year, supporting an end to the practice from 2021.
But that deadline came and went without a change.
The reason is that the proposal still requires agreement from EU member states. The Council of the European Union has never reached a common position, meaning the legislation cannot move forward.
Until new rules are agreed, the existing directive remains in force and EU countries must continue changing their clocks on the last Sundays of March and October.
Why has the proposal stalled?
One of the biggest difficulties is not whether the clock changes should end, but what happens afterwards.
Individual countries would have to decide which standard time they want to observe permanently. Poor coordination could create new time differences between neighbouring countries, complicating cross-border transport, trade and other parts of the EU single market.
The scale of public opposition to clock changes was already clear in 2018. A European Commission consultation received around 4.6 million responses, with 84 percent supporting an end to the twice-yearly changes. The Commission has also said that the energy savings associated with daylight saving time are now marginal.
Seasonal time changes were historically introduced partly to make better use of daylight and reduce energy consumption. In Europe, they were first used during the First World War and were widely reintroduced during the energy crises of the 1970s.
The EU began harmonising national arrangements in 1980 to prevent differing schedules from disrupting the single market. The current directive, in force since 2001, requires member states to move to summer time in March and return to standard time in October.
Issue is back on the EU agenda
The debate has now returned to Brussels.
European Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism Apóstolos Tzitzikostas launched a new assessment in February 2026 examining the EU-wide effects of seasonal clock changes. The study is expected to be completed by the end of the year, after which the Commission will consider possible next steps.
The assessment is examining ten different implementation scenarios, including the consequences of permanent summer or standard time and the possibility of different choices creating new time-zone borders within Europe. The analysis covers areas including the internal market, transport, energy use and public health.
Finland supports ending seasonal clock changes. However, it cannot abandon them on its own while the current EU directive remains in force.
For now, nothing changes. Finland has observed daylight saving time continuously since 1981, and on Sunday the clocks will once again move back one hour.