Companies can proihibit the Islamic veil at work

At certain conditions the measure is not a discrimination, according to the ECJ

by Emanuele Bonini

The Islamic veil can be not allowed at work, according to the European Court of Justice in its verdict issued yesterday. The EU institution based in Luxembourg said companies can prohibit to wear political, philosophical and confessional dresses in name of the principle of neutrality, if explicit internal firm dispositions foresee it. The judgement was about two different cases involving the traditional female clothing typical of the Islamic culture, but in taking the decision a general principle was set by the European body.

On one hand the EU recognise freedom of religion, but on the other hand it is also recognised the right of neutrality for both public and private sector. In name of such principal, no political signs or cultural symbols can be exposed to public. The European Court of Justice thus admitted that a ban of Islamic veil doesn't constitute a form of preliminary discrimination. Of course, in order to don't generate discriminations such a ban can't be imposed only for a single person or a single category of groups, whatever they are (political, religious and so on). Furthermore, the ECJ clarified that in order to respect the right of neutrality, people are not allowed to show any peculiar signs in public, meaning that the Islamic veil can be kept for internal jobs and all those roles for which is not foreseen any relations with external people.