Controversy and compromise

MUSLIM women who cover their faces in Europe are not being reasonable in adapting to western society, the President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso believes.

The former Portuguese prime minister, who is nearing the half-way point of his five years in office, has so far managed to remain uncontroversial in the very challenging job of heading up the EU’s central institution.

Selected as a compromise candidate at a summit presided over by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern during Ireland’s presidency, he has a reputation for being a good communicator in at least three languages.

Controversies involving Islam have featured prominently during his presidency so far.

These range from the controversy surrounding Turkey’s candidacy for EU membership, to the violent reaction to what Islamists see as blasphemy and the west sees as free speech — including the Mohammed cartoons and a Dutch film on the treatment of women.

Muslims are projected to make up to a fifth of Europe’s voting population inside the next generation or two so the issue of how Islam fits in with western values is very important for the future of the EU.

Mr Barroso believes Muslims should integrate with European society and make every effort to do so, although he also believes we cannot give people instructions about uniforms and how they should dress.

But he told the Irish Examiner this week that wearing a veil or niqab that completely covers the face allowing only a slit for the eyes is alien in our society.

“For instance, a teacher who presents herself to students with a completely veiled face is not doing something reasonable in our society.

“In general, if a person wants to communicate she can’t present herself with a veil that covers her entire face, except for a small opening for the eyes. It’s clear that it’s an obstacle”, he said.

For Mr Barroso who was a Maoist as a law student at a time when Portugal was ruled by a dictator, the Islam issue is a question of balance and good common sense.

That, he says, is what we have to promote and avoid extremist positions dictating what is and is not allowed in our society.

The French banned girls wearing head scarves in class last year, igniting fury among many of their five million Muslim population.

But the debate about Islamic women wearing the veil is more than just an argument about dress codes, Mr Barroso argues.

It’s about Europe’s ability to assimilate different cultures, but even more about others adapting to western values.

The general population and Muslim religious leaders should be encouraged to engage actively in the debate, he said. He would like to see Muslim leaders concentrate more on European Islam and not on an Islam that is alien.

This, he believes, is something of a cultural process that will require a lot of understanding, respect and compromise.

But his bottom line is that Muslims who live in Europe should make an effort to integrate — and that includes recognising that covering the face is an obstacle to communicating with the general population.

His views echo those of Britain’s Tony Blair who championed Mr Barroso for the Presidency of the Commission in 2004.

Mr Blair called the veil a “mark of separation” after the debate was ignited recently by cabinet minister Jack Straw who said that wearing a full veil made community relations difficult.

Mr Barroso argues there is such a thing as European Islam and points to history, including the major and enlightening role Muslims played in the Iberian peninsula including his native Portugal.

He insists that Islam is not alien to European culture even though the continent has been shaped mostly by the Judeo-Christian tradition.

“Europe is much more complex than some people pretend”, he said and adds that it is composed of such diverse groups as the Celts, Slavs and Germanics.

But in the end, the question of Muslim integration is an issue for member states to solve and not the European Commission, he said.

The issue of Turkey joining the largely Christian European Union has highlighted the prejudices of member states and the difficulties in negotiations over its membership are becoming more acute. Mr Barroso and others have warned of a “train crash” between the EU and Turkey and the collision could come in early November when the commission is due to publish its report on the current state of play of the stalled negotiations.

A major problem is Turkey’s role in Cyprus, where the northern third has been occupied by the Turkish military for the past 30 years.

This places Mr Barroso in a difficult position.

With a reputation for trying to please Europe’s leaders, he is caught between the French abhorrence of Turkey as a EU member and Britain’s determination to have the country within the fold.

“We are in a very critical moment...

I am not seeing the progress that I would like to see in these negotiations”, he said.

Turkey is not the only country waiting hopefully at the EU’s gate. Ukraine has high hopes of joining other former Soviet states in the EU.

All of this country, unlike Turkey, is part of Europe..

But geography and ethnicity do not make a country eligible to join the union he insists. He shies away from saying whether the EU should define its final frontier — membership should be based on political reasons, he says.

“It is important that Europe decides to integrate and Ukraine is a European country and should have a European future, but for the moment there are no conditions to accept new members”, he says.

He is referring to the collapse of the proposed constitution after France and Holland rejected it last year.

The current Treaties allow for just 27 members and with Bulgaria and Romania joining in January, the EU is full up for the moment.

Negotiations are under way with Croatia and that country is almost assured of membership — but without a new treaty the union cannot enlarge further.

But more than just enlargement is in danger because of the current impasse. As the role and power of the union expand almost daily, the institutions are creaking, but the solutions were included in the constitution that is in a deep coma at the moment, if not dead.

A revised or new constitution or treaty is essential and not just for the proper functioning of the union, he says. “There are broader political reasons. One is a question of confidence and to do with the psychological dimension.

“People are asking how can you be credible in solving the problems of Europe when you cannot even agree on the rules of the project.

This is projecting a shadow of doubt and scepticism about Europe”, he said.

Barroso defends his position of not trying to shape the growing debate about the future of the constitution. “We are listening and engaging positively. When appropriate we will come with some ideas to them [the member states] to help solve it”, he insists.

It will be a major task for the German Presidency when it takes over in January for six months. But the paralysis will continue until after the French Presidency elections next May.

In the meantime Mr Barroso will continue his crusade of explaining to the growing band of less than enthusiastic EU citizens why we need the Union in the 21st century.

The man who wowed the Forum on Europe in Dublin last year !!! will have his skills tested in winning over Europe’s sceptics.

He lists the reasons as globalisation — it makes no sense for member states to act alone — climate change; energy; mass immigration; international terrorism; competition from emerging countries such as China.

“These threats make the case for a strong EU. Even the bigger member states cannot confront the rest of the world alone”.

But there are deep divisions between member states on the role they want the EU to play.

Britain wants an open market for its goods, while most of the founding members see the EU as a more political project that includes the social aspects of protecting workers and the environment as well as business.

Barroso hopes to use the 50th anniversary of the original treaty to have a recommitment from the member states to the union.

But he has no interest in highlighting the only social article in the original treaty — equal pay for men and women.

Fifty years later there is still a wide gap which he says is the responsibility of the member states.