There are only six Muslim members in the European Parliament out of 785 members: two from the United Kingdom, two from Germany, one from France and one from Netherlands. The grand total of non-white EPS, whose ethnic origins could be said to lie outside Europe, is 15, according to Patrick Barkham who reported from Brussels.
These are 1.1% of the total Members. At least 5% of the population of the EU - 25 million and rising - is non-white. European Parliament, with 785 representatives from 27 member countries and chambers in Brussels and Strasbourg, is the world's only directly elected international chamber. It represents 492 million European citizens of a more diverse range of people. Its members speak in all 23 "official" languages. Since 1979, elections are held every five years and every adult citizen in the European Union (EU) can vote. The last elections were held in 2004; the next will be in 2009.
The United Kingdom has 78 EPS out of which five are non-white EPS ? two Labour, two Conservative; one Lib Dem. Germany has 99 EPS out of which three EPS are of Turkish/ Kurdish descent: one socialist, one green, one Euro left/Nordic green. France has 78 EPS out of which three are non-white EPS: two socialist, one from European People's party. Hungary has 24 EPS out of which two are Roma EPS: one from European People's party, one from the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats. The Netherlands has 27 EPS out of which one is non--white MEP of Turkish descent: socialist. Belgium has 24 EPS out of which only one is non-white MEP: a socialist. None of the other 21 EU member states has any non-white EPS, despite significant ethnic minority populations in countries such as Italy (78 EPS) and Spain (54 EPS), reported by Barkham.
So far as the Muslim populations of these countries are concerned, UK has more than 1.6 million Muslims with a substantial majority being of South Asian heritage, representing 2.7 percent of the total population. Germany has approximately 3.5 million Muslims, of these 70% are of Turkish origin, France has more than four million Muslims, with the great majority being from the Maghreb (1,550,000 of Algerian origin, 1,000,000 of Moroccan origin, and 350,000 of Tunisian origin), representing seven percent of the total population and The Netherlands has approximately 980,000 Muslims, they representing nearly six percent of the population, came primarily from Turkey and Morocco. (The Economist, April 3, 2003). There are 15 million Muslims in Europe representing approximately 3 percent of the total population of Europe. Therefore, their representation in the European Parliament is disproportionate.
Out of five non-white EPS from the United Kingdom two are Muslims: Syed Kamall and Sajjad H. Karim. Syed Kamall, Conservative MEP of Guyanese descent, born and brought up in London, married with two children he has a degree from Liverpool University, a Masters from the London School of Economics and a PhD from City University, London, became a Member of the European Parliament in May 2005.
Another Muslim MEP from the United Kingdom is Sajjad H. Karim, the only member of the European Parliament who is of Pakistani origin, born in Blackburn on 11 July 1970, married with two children, educated at Nelson and Colne College before studying Law at City College, London, he qualified as a solicitor in the Supreme Court of England and Wales in 1994, became a Member of the European Parliament in June 2004 at the age of 34 as a Liberal Democrat representing North West England.
There are two Muslim Members of the European Parliament from Germany, Cem Oezdemir and Vural ?er. Cem Oezdemir, born on 21 December, 1965 in Bad Urach, son of a Turkish immigrant, married to a German-Argentine journalist Pia Castro and graduated in social science teaching (1994), Transatlantic Fellow, German Marshall Fund of the United States, Washington DC/Brussels, was voted the best dressed German politician for the year 2005. Edemir, German politician and a Member of the European Parliament, has been a member of the German Green Party since 1981. There are approximately 3.5 million Muslims in Germany. Of these, 70% are of Turkish origin. Germany has a population of some 2.6 million people of Turkish origin.
While Vural ?er, another Muslim Member of the European Parliament from Germany, born in Ankara, Turkey, on 1st February 1942, graduated from Berlin, Technical University in 1969, businessman of Turkish origin, was elected to Socialist Group in the European Parliament in June 2004. MEP Oger is the founder of the ?er T? GmbH (1973), ?erTours (Managing Director) (1985) and the V. ?er Company (1990).
OUT OF THREE NON-WHITE MEPS FROM FRANCE, ONLY ONE IS MUSLIM: MEP Kader Arif. Socialist MEP Kader Arif, born in Algeria, came to France at the age of five, has passion in rughby and bullfighting, he is classically French and hugely popular in south-western France. Arif was elected first in the list of 10 EPS in their National Front-friendly constituency of 8.5 million people. "It shows that sometimes the masses are in advance of the political elites," he says. He believes there is racism across the board in French political parties.
There is one Muslim Member of the European Parliament from The Netherlands. Emine Bozkurt, born on 9 August, 1967, in Zaandam in Holland, to Turkish parents, educated in Foundation course in French language and literature (Amsterdam, 1987), Higher degree in European studies (Amsterdam, 1992). Qualification from the Netherlands Association for Public Relations and Information (NGPR) (1995), Bozkurt became the first MEP elected from The Netherlands in 2004 to the Socialist Group in the European Parliament.
There were exactly 37,091 people - civil servants, administrators and other staff - working for the European Parliament, European Commission and other EU bodies in 2006 (far fewer than in Eurosceptic legend). But there is no way of telling how many are non-white. Officials estimate that it is probably "a handful", reported by Barkham. Naturally, it is not possible to get the exact figure of Muslims working for the European parliament and other European bodies and institutions.
A large number of non-white including Muslims are living in countries such as Belgium, Italy and Spain which have 24, 78 and 54 Members of the European Parliament respectively but none of them are Muslim, though Belgium has more than 355, 000 Muslims, majority of them are being of Moroccan and Tunisian origin, representing 3.4 percent of the total population of Belgium, Italy has 825,000 Muslims, the largest group came from Morocco, representing 1.4 percent of the total population of Italy and Spain has more than 485,000 Muslims, a significant numbers of them are from Morocco, representing 1.1 percent of the total population of Spain.
In this connection, it may be pointed out that Islam is one of seven recognised religions in Belgium, a status that brings it a number of subsidies and official roles. Similarly, Spain recognises Islam, affording it a number of privileges including the teaching of Islam in schools and religious holidays.
-Courtesy The Muslim World