Paris is UTC+1 (GMT+1) / UTC+2 (GMT+2). New York is UTC−4 (EDT) / UTC−5 (EST). New York is currently 6 hours behind Paris.
Best times to meet (Paris local time): 3:00 PM — 9:00 AM in New York; 4:00 PM — 10:00 AM in New York.
Times shown in Paris local time → New York local time. Based on business hours 09:00–17:00.
Paris operates on Central European Time (CET, UTC+1) in winter and Central European Summer Time (CEST, UTC+2) from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October. France's adoption of CET in 1940 during the German occupation aligned the country with Berlin time, replacing an earlier French legal time of UTC+0:09:21 (the Paris meridian). After the war, France retained CET rather than reverting, making Paris permanently one hour ahead of London in winter despite being geographically close to the GMT meridian.
Paris is the financial centre of continental Europe and hosts many major EU institutions, international organisations, and multinational headquarters. French business hours typically run 09:00–18:00 CET/CEST, with a longer lunch break than Anglo-American norms. Being in the same timezone as most of continental Europe (Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Sweden, and more all use CET/CEST) means that Paris aligns perfectly with its major trading partners. It is one hour ahead of London in winter but shares the same UTC+1 offset as London during British Summer Time — a period when "Paris time" and "London time" temporarily converge.
French law mandates that meetings involving public agencies begin no earlier than 08:00 and end by 20:00 local time. The European Union has been debating abolishing seasonal clock changes since 2019, with member states unable to agree on whether to stay on permanent standard time or permanent summer time. Until a resolution is reached, EU countries including France continue to change their clocks twice a year in synchrony.
New York City observes Eastern Time: UTC−5 (EST, Eastern Standard Time) from the first Sunday in November to the second Sunday in March, and UTC−4 (EDT, Eastern Daylight Time) during the remainder of the year. The Eastern Time Zone covers roughly a third of the US population and all of Canada's most populous provinces, making EST/EDT the de-facto "American" timezone in global business. The US adopted standard time nationally after the Standard Time Act of 1918, and year-round Daylight Saving Time rules were made permanent by the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
New York's financial markets — the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ — open at 09:30 and close at 16:00 EST/EDT, setting the rhythm for global equity trading. The city is 5 hours behind London (in winter), 14 hours behind Tokyo, and 9.5 hours behind Mumbai, which means scheduling live meetings between New York and Asia almost always requires someone to work outside normal hours. New York is 3 hours ahead of Los Angeles, so the US business day effectively runs from 06:00 Pacific to 17:00 Eastern — an 11-hour window.
The Uniform Time Act of 1966 standardised DST observance across US states, though states can opt out (Arizona does not observe DST, and Hawaii has never observed it). There are periodic debates in the US Congress about eliminating the clock change entirely, similar to EU proposals. Until such a change occurs, New York switches twice per year, occasionally causing brief periods where the offset to London or other regions differs from the norm by one hour during the transition weeks when the two regions change on different dates.
New York is currently 6 hours behind Paris.
When it is 12:00 noon in Paris, it is 06:00 in New York (based on current offsets — verify during DST transitions).
Paris observes DST, changing from GMT+1 to GMT+2. New York observes DST, changing from EDT to EST.