The European Parliament backed proposals on Thursday to “counter the influence” of the Muslim Brotherhood and list some of its supporters as terrorists.
The resolution passed by a vote of 381 to 167, and asks the EU's member states to add people and organisations linked to the Brotherhood to the bloc's joint list of terrorists.
It says EU countries should provide information “enabling the assessment” of the Brotherhood's leaders and structures and whether they should be classified as terrorists.
The review should go beyond formal organisations and include "front organisations", financial networks, youth groups and "ideological platforms" linked to the Brotherhood, the resolution says.
The European Commission is also asked to provide a “comprehensive overview” of any cases in which EU funds have been awarded to associates of the Brotherhood.
Experts and officials in Europe have for years been warning about the threat the Brotherhood poses to social cohesion and democracy. Analysts have also questioned the group's claims of non-violence.
The parliament expressed “deep concern at the strategies of influence” pursued by the Brotherhood and its supporters. It described the Brotherhood as “a political project based on the primacy of religious norms over common law, which is incompatible with democratic principles, the rule of law and equality between citizens”.
The Muslim Brotherhood is outlawed in several Middle East countries including the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. The US has designated certain branches of the movement, such as in Egypt and Jordan.
Pressure has been increasing on the EU to take similar steps. The French parliament in January passed a resolution calling on the union to list the Brotherhood as a terrorist organisation.
The European Parliament does not have independent decision-making power but can apply pressure to other EU institutions to take action.
The parliament's largest party, the centre-right European People's Party, said the EU “must never fund Islamists”.
“Islam as a faith and political Islam as an ideology must not be conflated. We must protect both democracy and religious freedom,” said one of its members of the parliament, Celine Imart.
“Where rules allow, the Council [of the European Union] should list individuals and organisations linked to the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist entities.”
