TIME CHANGE 2019-Daylight Saving Time

Greece, as most of Europe, sets the clocks forward one hour on Sunday, March 31, 2019, when Daylight Saving Time (DST) starts. Greece and most countries in Europe spring forward one hour at 03:00 am, it means clocks will show 04:00 am. Local time for the change is different in each time zone. European countries synchronize their DST, which starts on the last Sunday of March and ends on the last Sunday of October. Participating countries are: The European Union (EU), including Bulgaria, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, the United Kingdom and most other European countries, including Norway and Switzerland.  Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Iceland, Russia, and Turkey don't use DST any more but remain on standard time all year. In 2016, Turkey decided to end DST permanently. The Turkish occupied territory of Northern Cyprus still follows the rest of Cyprus and will set the clocks forward one hour on March 31.

In September 2018, the European Commission issued a draft directive to permanently scrap DST in the EU. In a public survey, more than 80% of 4.6 million respondents voted to put an end to seasonal clock changes altogether, but the EU Member States called for more time before putting an end to the practice. On 4 March 2019, the European Parliament Transport and Tourism Committee approved the Commission's proposal by 23 votes to 11. The start date will however be postponed until 2021 and the Commission must ensure that countries' decisions to retain winter or summer time are coordinated and do not disrupt the internal market. The proposal must now be put to a vote of the full European Parliament, and then approved by the Council of Ministers. Countries have a margin until April 2020 to decide which time they will keep permanent!