proposed changes to tz data base for Estonia, Lithuania

[Paul Eggert]

Here is a proposed patch to the tz database for the recent rule
changes in Estonia and Lithuania.  The first change takes effect at
the end of this month.  (Does anybody know what Latvia is doing?)

* Estonia will stop using DST next year.
* Lithuania switches from CET to DST on October 31.
* More commentary added for 1916 and 1918 summer time in the Channel Islands.

===================================================================
RCS file: RCS/europe,v
retrieving revision 1999.6
retrieving revision 1999.6.0.2
diff -u -p -r1999.6 -r1999.6.0.2
--- europe	1999/09/23 13:47:56	1999.6
+++ europe	1999/10/06 16:42:53	1999.6.0.2
@@ -723,6 +723,23 @@
 # clear whether the islands were using GMT or local time then.  The
 # changes in Alderney and Guernsey were at the same 2am GMT time as
 # for Great Britain; the order for Jersey is more interesting.
+#
+# From Paul Eggert (1999-10-06):
+# Mark Brader kindly translated the 1916 Jersey order from the French.
+# It says that the 1916 transitions were 05-20 and 09-30 at midnight.
+# Presumably this was 24:00, two hours earlier than Great Britain.
+# It also says that after 1916 they'll sync with Great Britain.
+
+# From Joseph S. Myers (1999-09-28):
+# I have the 1918 orders for Guernsey, Alderney (both changing on same
+# dates as UK, 2am GMT) and Sark (same dates; start and end at 2am,
+# start "temps de Greenwich" (not specified as "temps moyen de
+# Greenwich" which was used in the other orders) and end in an
+# unspecified zone).  For Jersey the same file (Public Record Office: HO
+# 45/10892/357138) includes letters to the effect that in 1918 and 1919
+# the States of Jersey agreed the same start and end dates as the UK
+# (times unspecified, and it was the 1916 Jersey order that specified
+# change at midnight of an unspecified zone).
 
 # From Joseph S. Myers <jsm28 at hermes.cam.ac.uk> (1998-01-06):
 #
@@ -1304,6 +1321,15 @@ Zone America/Thule	-4:35:08 -	LMT	1916 J
 # for their standard and summer times. He says no, they use "suveaeg"
 # (summer time) and "talveaeg" (winter time).
 
+# From <a href="http://www.baltictimes.com/">The Baltic Times</a> (1999-09-09)
+# via Steffen Thorsen:
+# This year will mark the last time Estonia shifts to summer time,
+# a council of the ruling coalition announced Sept. 6....
+# But what this could mean for Estonia's chances of joining the European
+# Union are still unclear.  In 1994, the EU declared summer time compulsory
+# for all member states until 2001.  Brussels has yet to decide what to do
+# after that. 
+
 # Zone	NAME		GMTOFF	RULES	FORMAT	[UNTIL]
 Zone	Europe/Tallinn	1:39:00	-	LMT	1880
 			1:39:00	-	TMT	1918 Feb # Tallinn Mean Time
@@ -1315,7 +1341,8 @@ Zone	Europe/Tallinn	1:39:00	-	LMT	1880
 			3:00	Russia	MSK/MSD	1989 Mar 26 2:00s
 			2:00	1:00	EEST	1989 Sep 24 2:00s
 			2:00	C-Eur	EE%sT	1998 Sep 22
-			2:00	EU	EE%sT
+			2:00	EU	EE%sT	2000
+			2:00	-	EET
 
 # Finland
 #
@@ -1715,6 +1742,24 @@ Zone	Europe/Vaduz	0:38:04 -	LMT	1894 Jun
 			1:00	EU	CE%sT
 
 # Lithuania
+
+# From Paul Eggert (1996-11-22):
+# IATA SSIM (1992/1996) says Lithuania uses W-Eur rules, but since it is
+# known to be wrong about Estonia and Latvia, assume it's wrong here too.
+
+# From Marius Gedminas <mgedmin at pub.osf.lt> (1998-08-07):
+# I would like to inform that in this year Lithuanian time zone
+# (Europe/Vilnius) was changed.
+
+# From <a href="http://www.elta.lt/">ELTA</a> No. 972 (2582) (1999-09-29),
+# via Steffen Thorsen:
+# Lithuania has shifted back to the second time zone (GMT plus two hours)
+# to be valid here starting from October 31,
+# as decided by the national government on Wednesday....
+# The Lithuanian government also announced plans to consider a
+# motion to give up shifting to summer time in spring, as it was
+# already done by Estonia. 
+
 # Zone	NAME		GMTOFF	RULES	FORMAT	[UNTIL]
 Zone	Europe/Vilnius	1:41:16	-	LMT	1880
 			1:24:00	-	WMT	1917	    # Warsaw Mean Time
@@ -1728,14 +1773,8 @@ Zone	Europe/Vilnius	1:41:16	-	LMT	1880
 			2:00	1:00	EEST	1991 Sep 29 2:00s
 			2:00	C-Eur	EE%sT	1998
 			2:00	-	EET	1998 Mar 29 1:00u
-			1:00	EU	CE%sT
-# From Paul Eggert (1996-11-22):
-# IATA SSIM (1992/1996) says Lithuania uses W-Eur rules, but since it is
-# known to be wrong about Estonia and Latvia, assume it's wrong here too.
-
-# From Marius Gedminas <mgedmin at pub.osf.lt> (1998-08-07):
-# I would like to inform that in this year Lithuanian time zone
-# (Europe/Vilnius) was changed.
+			1:00	EU	CE%sT	1999 Oct 31 1:00u
+			2:00	EU	EE%sT
 
 # Luxembourg
 # Whitman disagrees with most of these dates in minor ways; go with Shanks.