Central European Summer Time

Central European Summer Time (CEST), sometime referred also as Central European Daylight Time (CEDT), is the standard clock time observed during the period of summer daylight-saving in those European countries which observe Central European Time (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 and Kaliningrad Time in Russia.[1]

Time in Europe:

	Western European Time / Greenwich Mean Time (UTC)
	Western European Time / Greenwich Mean Time (UTC)
	Western European Summer Time / British Summer Time / Irish Standard Time (UTC+1)
	Central European Time (UTC+1)
	Central European Summer Time (UTC+2)
	Eastern European Time / Kaliningrad Time (UTC+2)
	Eastern European Time (UTC+2)
	Eastern European Summer Time (UTC+3)
	Further-eastern European Time / Moscow Time / Turkey Time (UTC+3)

pale colours indicate where standard time is observed all year; dark colours indicate where a summer time is observed

Names

Other names which have been applied to Central European Summer Time are Middle European Summer Time (MEST),[2] Central European Daylight Saving Time (CEDT),[3] and Bravo Time (after the second letter of the NATO phonetic alphabet).[4]

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.[5]

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.[6]

Usage

The following countries and territories regularly use Central European Summer Time:[7]

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

The following countries have also used Central European Summer Time in the past:

• Libya, 1951–1959, 1982–1989, 1996–1997, 2012–2013
• Lithuania, 1998–1999
• Portugal, 1993–1995
• Tunisia, 2005–2008

See also

• European Summer Time
• Time zone

References

1. "CEST time now". 24timezones.com. Retrieved 2018-07-20.
2. "Time zone names- Middle European Daylight, Middle European Summer, Mitteieuropaische Sommerzeit (german)". www.worldtimezone.com. Retrieved 2018-07-20.
3. "CEDT - Central European Daylight Time: Current local time". Time Difference. Retrieved 2018-07-20.
4. "B – Bravo Time Zone (Time Zone Abbreviation)". www.timeanddate.com. Retrieved 2018-07-20.
5. Joseph Myers (2009-07-17). "History of legal time in Britain". Retrieved 2009-10-11.
6. Boffey, Daniel (26 March 2019). "European parliament votes to scrap daylight saving time from 2021". The Guardian.
7. "CEST – Central European Summer Time (Time Zone Abbreviation)". www.timeanddate.com. Retrieved 2018-07-20.