WRITTEN QUESTION E-2494/02

by Mogens Camre (UEN) to the Commission

(9 September 2002)

Subject: Commission's use of fundamentalist Muslims as advisors

In its answer given on behalf of Antonio Vitorino to my question No E-1177/02(1) of 15 April 2002 concerning Muslim imams' incitement to violence, the Commission wrote: As you will be aware, the EU is founded on the principles of freedom, democracy and respect for human rights and on the fundamental freedoms, including freedom of expression, which are common to all the Member States. The Commission deplores any conduct which might constitute incitement to hatred or entail the violation of human rights.

In my question of 15 April 2002, I drew attention to the judgment of 31 July 2002 of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg (cases 41340/98 and 41342/98) which ruled that sharia (Islamic law) is clearly contrary to the values set out in the Convention on Human Rights.

According to the respected Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten of 14 August 2002, the Commission uses Tariq Ramadan as an advisor on Islamic affairs. Ramadan is, by his own admission, a fundamentalist Muslim. He writes that Muslims should adapt to liberal society but believes that Muslims should remain fundamentalists who, in the much-abused name of human rights, demand the right to set up a parallel community strictly segregated from the outside world, strictly orthodox and with their own system of law within the community in those countries in Europe where they live.

Despite the EU's numerous declarations that the Union stands for freedom and democracy, despite the European Court of Human Rights' ruling that sharia is contrary to fundamental human rights, the Commission still uses Tariq Ramadan as an advisor on cultural affairs, even though he is opposed to all the values that the Union claims to uphold.

In the light of the foregoing, will the Commission explain how it justifies using a fundamentalist Muslim as an advisor on something as important as cultural affairs? It should surely not be impossible to find one competent advisor of the Islamic faith who does not wish to subvert our society and abolish democracy?

(1) OJ C 28 E, 6.2.2003, p. 77.

Answer given by Mr Prodi on behalf of the Commission

(25 October 2002)

To date, the Commission has not used Tariq Ramadan as an adviser on cultural affairs as the Honourable Member claims.

However, it did invite him to speak at a seminar on science and culture entitled An ethical inspiration for the European Union, which it organised at Santiago de Compostela on 7/8 May 1997. Those attending the seminar appreciated Professor Ramadan's humanist and open approach and his ambition to promote the integration of young Muslims into the countries of the European Union in which they were born. That is why the Commission invited him to speak again, this time at the Conference on Intercultural Dialogue held in Brussels on 20/21 March 2002.

The European Union is founded on the principles of freedom, democracy and respect for human rights and on the fundamental freedoms, including freedom of expression, which are common to all the Member States, subject to the restrictions enshrined in law.

The Commission chooses the experts it wishes to consult on cultural affairs within that framework and on the basis of an in-depth analysis. In general, it intends to continue doing so because it is convinced that diversity of opinion is a key element in the lucid diagnosis that must underlie any action taken in the common interest of the European Union and the Member States.