Central European Summer Time

Central European Summer Time (CEST, UTC+02:00), sometimes referred to as Central European Daylight Time (CEDT),^[1] is the standard clock time observed during the period of summer daylight-saving in those European countries which observe Central European Time (CET; UTC+01:00) during the other part of the year. It corresponds to UTC+02:00, which makes it the same as Eastern European Time, Central Africa Time, South African Standard Time, Egypt Standard Time and Kaliningrad Time in Russia.^[2]

Names

Other names which have been applied to Central European Summer Time are Middle European Summer Time (MEST),^[3] Central European Daylight Saving Time (CEDT),^[4] and Bravo Time (after the second letter of the NATO phonetic alphabet).^[5]

Period of observation

Since 1996, European Summer Time has been observed between 01:00 UTC (02:00 CET and 03:00 CEST) on the last Sunday of March, and 01:00 UTC on the last Sunday of October; previously the rules were not uniform across the European Union.^[6]

There were proposals to abandon summer time in Europe from 2021, possibly by moving winter time up by an hour and keeping that time through the year.^[7]

Usage

The following countries and territories regularly use Central European Summer Time:^[8]

Albania, since 1974
Andorra, since 1985
Austria, since 1980
Belgium, since 1980
Bosnia and Herzegovina, since 1983 when part of Yugoslavia
Croatia, since 1983 when part of Yugoslavia
Czech Republic, since 1979 when part of Czechoslovakia
Denmark (metropolitan), since 1980
France (metropolitan), since 1976
Germany, since 1980
Gibraltar, since 1982
Hungary, since 1980
Italy, since 1968
Kosovo, since 1983 when part of Yugoslavia
Liechtenstein, since 1981
Luxembourg, since 1981
Malta, since 1974
Monaco, since 1976
Montenegro, since 1983 when part of Yugoslavia
Netherlands, since 1977
North Macedonia, since 1983 when part of Yugoslavia
Norway, since 1980
Poland, since 1977
San Marino, since 1966
Serbia, since 1983 when part of Yugoslavia
Slovakia, since 1979 when part of Czechoslovakia
Slovenia, since 1983 when part of Yugoslavia
Spain, since 1974 (except Canary Islands, which instead apply Western European Summer Time)
Sweden, since 1980
Switzerland, since 1981
Vatican City, since 1966