what is the date of the changeover to summer time?

France switches to summer time at the end of March 2025. How does this time change take place?

The time change is still an important moment in 2025 to which attention must be paid. It would be a shame to miss the switch to summer time! Nothing new, the rules are still the same: the French, like all inhabitants of the European Union, must turn their clocks back one hour on the last Sunday in March.

The transition to summer time, with an hour of “lost” sleep, is often perceived as harder than that to winter time. Studies have shown that winter time is closer to the majority of people’s internal body clocks, which can contribute to better sleep quality and more restful rest. But by switching to summer time, the French also find more sunshine at the end of the afternoon: a huge advantage!

When and how do we switch to winter time?

The transition to summer time 2025 in France takes place on Sunday March 30. That day, at 2 a.m., it will immediately be 3 a.m. The day of March 30, 2025 therefore only lasts 23 hours.

The change from winter to summer time as we know it today was introduced by decree in 1975, following the oil crisis. It is then a question of establishing a summer time at GMT+2, i.e. two hours difference with natural time, from the following March. Objective: to better align natural lighting and human activities from spring onwards, to save energy.

The end of March is then chosen to coincide with the spring equinox, synonymous with the return of sunny days and longer days. The return to “normal” time (evening GMT+1) is logically set inversely as the autumn equinox approaches, i.e. at the end of October. The weekend and in particular the night from Saturday to Sunday will quickly appear as the time when the immediate impact of the time change will be the most limited.

It was the Environment and Energy Management Agency (ADEME) which initiated the seasonal time change, as the government agency responsible for ensuring the optimization of the energy bill. In a summary of 2010the organization still estimated the savings made the previous year thanks to the time change at 440 GWh.

The time change was harmonized at European level in 1998 and is today applied by all EU member states and 70 countries in total. However, it has been highly controversial for years. Its detractors point above all to energy gains that are too limited, especially with the evolution of technologies and uses, as well as negative effects on health, sleep and road safety.

No, the 2025 DST change is not the last. In March 2019, after consultation, the European Parliament adopted a majority project to end the time change, but it will not be implemented for several years. The said draft directive provided for the abolition of rapid time change: to do this, each Member State had to decide between remaining on winter time or remaining on summer time. The European Parliament had also called for coordination between the Member States and the European Commission so that the application of permanent hours (winter and summer) in the different countries does not disrupt the functioning of the internal market.

The directive was to be adopted by the Council at the end of 2020, then transposed by the member states, underlines the official Vie Publique website. However, because of the health crisis linked to Covid-19, Brexit, then the upheavals caused by the war in Ukraine, without forgetting the hesitations of European leaders, the text in question on the end of the time change is not no longer on the agenda “and should not be discussed in the near future”, concludes the French administration website.

And once put back on the table, the debates should be long: “It is up to each Member State to decide the legal time it wishes to adopt” confirmed the European Commission at Euronews in the fall of 2022. If the majority of French people have expressed their weariness with the time change and their desire to put an end to it, the debate on the time zone to adopt remains open. According to the consultation carried out by the National Assembly in 2019, 59% of respondents expressed their preference for permanent summer time, which would allow them to benefit from longer bright evenings. However, some public health experts caution against this option, arguing that permanent DST could disrupt sleep cycles and have health consequences.