The RN proposes a referendum on the ban on the Islamic veil in the event of victory in 2027

It is a garment that is regularly the subject of heated debate. The National Rally confirmed, Monday August 31, that the ban in public spaces on the wearing of the Islamic veil (or "hijab"), a scarf which leaves the face visible, would be submitted to the French by referendum in the event of Marine Le Pen's victory in the 2027 presidential election. Objective: "to fight against Islamist ideology", justified Jordan Bardella, the president of the far-right party.

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“We consider that radical Islam represents a threat in our country, which is still relevant,” detailed MP Sébastien Chenu on BFMTV. “From the moment we want to fight against an ideology, we must define it, define its mode of expression, its representations, its financing, its relays, to ban it,” continued the elected RN of the North. He believes that wearing the veil, "imposed" or "chosen", is "obviously (...) a symbol of radical Islam".

The proposal, the feasibility of which raises questions without constitutional change, is far from being new for Marine Le Pen, who had been in favor of it since her first presidential campaign in 2012. According to a survey carried out at the beginning of September for CNews, Europe 1 and Le Journal du Dimanche, three media outlets belonging to conservative billionaire Vincent Bolloré, 60% of those questioned support the ban on the veil in public spaces – mainly seniors and supporters of the right and far-right. This is less than in November, when the measure received 69% favorable opinions (PDF).

Secularism at the heart of the legislation

“With the exception of Turkey at the time of Mustafa Kemal, France already has, among democracies, the most restrictive legislation in the world” on the wearing of religious clothing, recalls the jurist Nicolas Cadène. At the origin of this approach: respect for secularism. Enshrined in the law of separation of Churches and State of 1905, this principle translates into respect for the religious freedom of citizens on the one hand, and the neutrality of the State, public services and its agents in religious matters on the other, details the government website on the subject.

Since 2004, religious symbols visible at school, including headscarves, have been banned in the name of this principle. In 2023, the abaya (a long dress worn over clothing) was also kicked out of classes for the same reason. Athletes representing France at the 2024 Olympic Games have also been banned from wearing headscarves under this principle. In 2010, the law also prohibited the concealment of the face in public spaces, including the wearing of the full veil. Unlike the previous ones, this text is not based on secularism but on public security and respect for the “minimum requirements of life in society”.

Restrictions in other countries

Is our country the only one to take such measures? In recent years, several of our European neighbors have in turn banned the full veil from public spaces, such as Belgium, Austria, Denmark, Switzerland and Portugal. In Austria, wearing a headscarf is also prohibited for students under the age of 14, according to Euronews. In Belgium, East Flanders has banned clothing from its schools, for both students and staff, reports the newspaper DH. Local restrictions on the wearing of the veil also exist in Spain and Italy, particularly in schools. In Germany, several regions also banned the wearing of the veil for teachers, before their decisions were overturned by the Constitutional Court, notes Le Monde.

“More and more of our neighbors are also leading a policy of regulating signs of the visibility of Islam, in particular full veiling,” summarizes political scientist Franck Frégosi, author of Governing Islam in France. "None of them went as far as a general ban on the 'hijab'", which "would undermine religious freedom" protected in France and in Europe, he notes. The discussion launched by the National Rally's proposal therefore remains, according to him, "a very Franco-French debate". The only exception: in Sweden, a country historically accommodating towards religious minorities, the far right has also proposed, since 2019, a ban on the "hijab" in public spaces, reports Le Monde.

Elsewhere in Europe, several far-right parties are nevertheless “carrying out measures to increasingly limit the visibility of the Muslim presence”. In Germany, Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) therefore proposes going beyond existing legislation by banning the "hijab" in schools. In Austria, the FPÖ wants to extend the ban on the veil for students to teachers and students, according to France 24.

An increasingly visible practice

These reflections are less and less those of the extreme right alone, notes the researcher. In France, in particular, the former Macronist Prime Minister Gabriel Attal led the fight for the ban on the abaya at school, while the former Minister of Education Jean-Michel Blanquer considered that "the veil was not desirable" in France. The former socialist Prime Minister, Manuel Valls, also displays in Marianne his desire to legislate to prohibit "the veil imposed on young girls in public spaces", seeing it as "a provocation" contrary to secularism.

How to explain this French obsession? In our country, which is home to one of the largest Muslim communities in Western Europe, the veil remains a minority practice, but one that is increasingly visible. Around 10% of the population declared themselves Muslim in 2020, according to INSEE. Among these Muslim believers, 26% of women aged 18 to 49 claimed to wear the veil, according to the statistical institute. They were only 18% to do so in 2009. In a country "among the most secularized in the world", this visibility is perceived as "a sensitive subject", estimates Nicolas Cadène.

The lawyer also points out the absence of socio-cultural diversity, "similar populations living in the same places and grouping together into communities of belonging". “The problem is that ignorance of others feeds preconceptions, fears, clichés,” continues the former general rapporteur of the Observatory of Secularism. As such, he believes that the ban on wearing the veil constitutes "a convenient tool" to hide a racist opinion behind a more noble motive, such as "secularism or the fight against religious extremism". Conversely, the promoters of the measure deny targeting a religious minority. “We have never stigmatized women who wear the veil,” assures Jean-Philippe Tanguy.

To explain the recurrence of the debate on the Islamic veil, Nicolas Cadène also cites the "lack of religious culture" of the French population and its political leaders. “If the first veiling initiatives in France, in the 1990s, were supported by a certain number of associations close to the Muslim Brotherhood, today women also wear the veil in reference to their own understanding of religion,” underlines Franck Frégosi. There are, in Muslim texts, "a certain number of prescriptions relating to modesty for men and women, of which the veil is one", although this rule is not one of the "five pillars of Islam", recalls the specialist.

“We must not confuse what can be a matter of the free choice of wearing clothing, which refers to religious instructions, and a form of visibility of an Islamist plot, of subversion from within.”

Franck Frégosi, political scientist

at franceinfo