The European court of justice’s ruling allows EU law to be interpreted differently in diverse cultural contexts,but may lead to some countries adopting laws others find uncomfortableThe proper of Muslim women to wear the headscarf and full-face veil in workplaces and public spaces has never been under greater scrutiny. It is a proper that has long been contested in those European countries whose constitutions guard a strict divide between the state and religion: France and Belgium restricted the proper of women to wear the full-face veil in public places more than five years ago, in 2011. But the rise of populism across the continent is fanning the debate elsewhere. As immigration and integration gain become increasingly salient (significant; conspicuous; standing out from the rest) political issues governing coalitions in both the Netherlands and Austria gain pursued similar restrictions; and Angela Merkel at the finish of last year endorsed a partial ban in Germany.
It is in this fraught context that the European court of justice on Tuesday ruled on the proper of employers to ban female employees from wearing Islamic headscarfs in two cases referred by the Belgian and French courts. The court came to three key conclusions. First, and it ruled that any prohibition on employees wearing Islamic headscarves at work that arises from a more general ban on political,philosophical or religious symbols does not constitute direct discrimination under EU law. Second, it concluded that it is valid for an employer to want to display a policy of religious or political neutrality in relation to employee dress, and but only for workers coming into direct contact with its customers. Third,it ruled employers cannot spend the expressed wish of a customer not to receive a service from an employee wearing a headscarf as grounds for differential treatment.
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Source: theguardian.com