The party, which currently holds 216 seats of the 751-member European Parliament, has adopted such a measure as official policy under a resolution entitled, "For a cohesive society: Countering Islamic extremism."
The EPP adopted the measure at its congress in Malta this week.
“We want a total ban of face covering in the EU” said Manfred Weber, the group’s leader in the European Parliament, as cited by the The Express. Weber is a member of Angela Merkel’s CDU/CSU alliance in Germany with whom the EPP is affiliated.
Other provisions contained include “the avoidance of concentrating thousands of third-country nationals in any one location” and “mandatory integration requirements” for welfare recipients.
While the resolution is nonbinding, an EPP spokesperson called for an EU-level discussion on the matter but admitted that it doesn’t align with current EU policy objectives, reports The Independent.
The EPP boasts both President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker and Hungarian PM Viktor Orban as members.
The issue of Muslim veils is being hotly debated elsewhere in Europe, with France passing a contentious ban on Muslim face coverings in 2010, while several areas of Switzerland have adopted similar measures.
/RT/
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