France is on the verge of becoming the first European nation to ban traditional Muslim dress in public places - a measure likely to cause angry protests in the Muslim world, including immigrant communities across Europe. France`s National Assembly has just begun deliberations on a bill prohibiting Muslim women from wearing veils in public. The lower house will vote on the bill later this month, and the Senate will take it up after returning from the summer recess in September. Since the bill is sponsored by President Nicolas Sarkozy and his UMP party holds an overwhelming majority in the National Assembly, its confirmation by the lower house is already a done deal. Its passage through the Senate will be easier still, as the upper house of the French legislature is famous for its conservatism. When France introduced the first such ban back in 2004, with President Jacques Chirac still in office, thousands of Muslims took to the streets in protest. That law targeted conspicuous religious paraphernalia in public schools, including Muslim headscarves, Jewish skullcaps, Sikh turbans, and large Christian crosses. Now French lawmakers are focusing their attention on Muslim dress, a move that reflects changing public attitudes toward Muslims in France and elsewhere in Europe. France, with a population of 64 million, is home to Western Europe`s largest Muslim community, numbering 5 million. About one half of the country`s population believes that immigrants from North Africa and other predominantly Islamic nations should be given all the civic liberties enjoyed by the "natives" without any preconditions. The other half insists that Muslim immigrants should show more respect for the French lifestyle, and that they must earn their rights by contributing to the good of their adopted homeland. This half stands in alignment with the assimilationist policy traditionally espoused by the French authorities, which now seems to be gaining more support with the general public. Sarkozy detractors of all stripes agree that the president`s decision to promote the "Muslim dress code" bill is aimed at scoring much-needed political points at a time when his approval ratings are hovering at a record-low 20%. This is unprecedented in the entire history of the Fifth Republic, founded by General de Gaulle in 1958. Campaigning for the 2012 presidential election starts next year, and tougher immigration policies appear to be the only way for Sarkozy to boost his sagging numbers, which took a severe hit from large-scale austerity measures and other unpopular decisions. If the bill becomes law, Muslim women in France will be fined up to 150 euros for wearing veils in public. If their husbands insist that they remained veiled, the penalty could include a 15,000 euro fine and a jail term of up to one year. Problems may arise with enforcement, though. It is no secret that most French policemen behave respectfully toward women, even ones suspected of breaking the law. And police unions have already expressed their reluctance to make Muslim wives strip off their veils. Until recently, Belgium was expected to take the lead in the movement to westernize the Muslim dress code. But a bill similar to France`s got held up in the Belgian parliament when a snap election was called in mid-June, following the collapse of the government. Now Belgium is too busy trying to reconcile the interests of its two major ethnic communities, the Flemish and the Walloons, to worry about their Muslim minority. Burqas and veils have already been banned in public in the Spanish region of Catalonia. Italy and Switzerland are expected to impose similar bans at the national level in the near future. Switzerland was once an immigrant-friendly country that welcomed political and religious refugees from all over the world. Now its policy toward asylum seekers is much stricter, especially for potential immigrants from the East. At the end of last year, the Swiss public voted in favor of a ban on the construction of new mosques in addition to the existing four. This change in Swiss attitudes toward immigration is just one example of the larger anti-immigrant sentiment sweeping other European countries. It is true that Europe`s ultra-right conservative forces traditionally use xenophobia and radicalism to gain political capital. But xenophobic sentiments are increasingly heard on the other side of the political divide, most notably from Muslim leaders. According to the European Union statistics, the total Muslim population in the 27 EU member states is 20 million out of 500 million EU citizens. Experts note, however, that these figures are approximations - statistics are usually based on censuses, in which respondents may conceal their religious affiliation. In the past five years, there has been talk that Europe`s Muslim population will reach 40% or even 50 % by the year 2025. But now experts say such a sharp increase is unlikely, given the present decline in Muslim birth rates on the European continent. In any case, France and other European democracies should think twice before attempting to forcibly westernize the Muslim dress code, if only for the sake of their own safety.