Muslim Minorities in the European Union: Case Study France

Islam has been increasingly discussed in the European Union, not only in connection with events worldwide, but also in relation to internal affairs of particular Member States, as Islam has become a permanent part of European religious landscape. Large European muslim minorities are no more an exclusive issue of particular countries which are facing them. Due to the deepening European integration and the current transnational tendencies of the European Islam, these minorities have become a common interest of all Member States, as well as of the EU itself. Nevertheless, a significant number of questions and the main responsibility for their solution still rest upon the individual states. This thesis focuses on the analysis of the position of Islam in France, which is the country with the largest muslim minority within the EU. It describes the specific approach of France towards its minorities and religions, the conditions the country imposes on them, and analyzes the process and the current level of integration of the French Muslims. The case study of the situation in France shows the possibilities of the integration of Muslims into the European society, points out to the factors which can influence it and hereby also to the acceptability of Islam in the EU