Strasbourg, 24/02/2005 (Agence Europe) - With a view to the adoption of a Parliament resolution, four British MEPs and one French MEP have signed a declaration on the right to religious expression. The declaration, which calls for greater respect of religious freedoms and rights, and above all the wearing of religious signs, is mainly in reaction to the French law on banning such signs and to the debate on the Hijab headscarf. The text calls on all Member States to authorise external signs of personal faith (including the Sikh turban, the Christian cross or the Jewish jarmulka) and specifically calls on the French government to go back on the ban.
During a press conference, on Wednesday, Caroline Lucas (Greens, UK) said she was “concerned” at seeing intolerance spread in the world. She considers that “restricting religious expression and freedoms violates human rights” and that “women who have freely chosen to wear the Hijab as an essential part of their Islamic beliefs and lifestyle should not be forced to endure laws that are likely to heighten religious and ethnic discrimination”. British Labour member Claude Moraes, considers the French example should not be followed as “integration calls for respect of diversity”. British Liberal Sarah Ludford felt that neither should one feel forced to conform and that freedom of choice implies the freedom not to wear the headscarf. She went on to explain that it is not a question of interfering with the French debate and she does not, moreover, see any “pernicious motivation behind the French ban”. She admitted that the text had received a cool reception from some of her colleagues, including French UDF members. British Conservative Philip Bushill-Matthews and French Green member Alain Lipietz are the other two signatories of the declaration at this stage. In order to be discussed in Parliament, the text must be signed by at least half of the MEPs by mid-May.