EU encouraged not to cut off moderate Islamists

The EU should include Mediterranean Arab states run by non-violent Islamist parties in more initiatives aimed at better governance and the development of civil society, as isolating them could lead to the reinforcement of radical Islamism, argues a study presented on Wednesday (23 January).

"Despite frequent assertions of a commitment to engage with moderate Islamists, Western governments have in fact remained reluctant to offer such groups support," says the study titled Political Islam and European Foreign Policy – Perspectives from Muslim Democrats of the Mediterranean, published by the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS).

"Many talking shops have been convened on 'Islam and democracy' and 'cultural understanding' between Islam and the West. However, Western governments have declined to provide concrete backing for moderate Islamists engaged in pro-democracy campaigning," it continues.

It is a "fair point" that the 27-member bloc has been neglecting civil society, said Merete Bilde, a policy advisor from the Council of the EU, underlining that she was speaking in a private capacity. She added that the EU should start looking at the members of this civil society as genuine agents of reform, regardless of their religious beliefs. However, the question of how to best approach "political Islam" very much depends on the different member states. Reaching a common EU position on the matter would be very difficult, she noted.

Alongside the recommendation that the EU needs to engage more with the so-called "Muslim democrats" of the Middle East and North African countries, the study also examines their views of the EU.

The EU has recently been losing credibility among these states, due in particular to its "procrastination over Turkey's quest for [EU] accession" and the suspension of aid to the Hamas government in Palestine.

But the 27-nation bloc still has a more favourable reputation than the US in this region, the study notes. In addition, members of Islamist political groups questioned by the different experts in the study mostly expressed positive views of European democracy, saying it could be used as a reference for their own countries. The guarantee of freedom of association is particularly attractive to them, according to the document.

On the other hand, they are much less enthusiastic when it comes to liberal civil rights, rejecting in particular the "decline of spirituality, permissive homosexual rights, a certain conception of women's rights, and the lack of 'social justice' judged to be prevalent in European societies".

Euobserver