German draft bill proposes banning face veil due to 'communication' problems

Germany is planning to ban its public officials from wearing the face veil on the grounds of “communication,” German media reported on Friday.

“Open communication is a formative part of the ability to live together in a free, democratic society,” according to a draft bill presented by the German interior ministry on Friday.

According to the draft bill, concealing the face restricts “the possibility to get to know and evaluate someone’s personality”.

The draft bill aims to compel state officials to “wear no clothing that makes open communication impossible or more difficult”.

The draft bill would apply to women who are employed by the state, as well as stipulating that all women who wear the veil to show their faces during passport control, court rulings and at polling stations.

It is unclear when the German parliament will meet to discuss the draft bill.

The number of women wearing face veils in Germany is not known, but is thought to be fairly small.

The latest official figures were collected in 2009, and showed that 28 percent of women identifying as Muslim wore some kind of covering – but this includes the headscarf as well as the rarer face veil.

However, over recent years German politicians have made efforts to move towards a ban.

In August Interior Minister Thomas de Maziere proposed the partial face veil ban, saying that face covering “has no place in our country and doesn’t comply with our understanding of the role of women”.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel also spoke out against the face veil, saying that “a woman who is entirely veiled has hardly any chance at integrating”.

However, politicians have admitted that it would be difficult to ban the garment on a national level, with Merkel calling it a “complex political and legal issue”.

The European Court of Justice is currently mulling whether face veil bans in France and Belgium comply with European rights laws - a judgement in the case is not expected until next year.