Measuring Muslim Integration in Europe

The European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (established by the Council of Europe in 1997) has warned that anti-terrorism security measures risk disrupting the task of integrating Muslim communities in EU member states.(1) Without reliable statistics, the effects of these measures are difficult to assess. Fears of Muslim radicalization and "cultural conflict" can then be exploited to justify just such measures. Despite these acknowledged concerns research on the situation of Muslims in western democracies relies on "mostly 'proxy' data, referring to nationality and ethnicity."(2) The European Commission has initiated an effort toward "the systematic production of harmonized Community statistics," with a long-term view to improving knowledge of the socioeconomic integration of immigrants and there are moves towards an EU-wide benchmarking system.(3) An examination of data on the situation of Muslims in the Netherlands, Germany, France, and Britain provided in this paper finds that these data are neither comparable between nations, nor sufficient to benchmarking "Muslim integration" according to criteria being drawn up at the national and European levels. The data neglect important questions relating to the place of Muslims in European societies, including incendiary problems, such as the tension between Muslim youth and the police, and overlapping inequalities that lead to violent crime. Reference to entrenched national norms surrounding the role of the state in society provides a rationale for those opposed to change to undermine the effectiveness of the EU's "Community Statistics" initiative in tracking and improving the integration of Muslim minority groups.