Lithuania calls for EU-wide end to seasonal time changes

Lithuania’s transport minister has urged Baltic states to jointly push the European Union to abandon the twice-yearly clock changes, calling the practice an outdated burden on citizens, LRT reports.

Juras Taminskas announced he would take a leading role in halting seasonal time adjustments, citing decades of public frustration. With Lithuania set to hold the rotating EU Council presidency next year, he framed 2025 as an opportunity to “take real action so clocks are no longer turned back and forth.”

The minister plans to raise the issue in upcoming meetings with counterparts from other EU member states. His call follows a 2023 European Commission study assessing the impacts of seasonal time changes, which presented member states with potential scenarios. Final results of the evaluation are expected this summer.

The EU has debated eliminating clock changes since at least 2018, when the Commission first proposed ending the practice. Though the European Parliament later backed the move, no final decision has yet been adopted.

Lithuania’s Transport Ministry is actively participating in the ongoing EU Council discussions on the matter.