PARIS – Amid heated debates, French lawmakers are wrestling with a compromise over a proposed ban on the wearing of face-veil by Muslim women, over deep divisions over its implications on religious and personal freedoms.

"We will talk about the idea of a law, about the need to take time to prepare it and to avoid stigmatization," MP Andre Gerin, head of the parliamentary commission on the issue, told French radio on Wednesday, January 13.

Gerin, who spearheaded the anti-burka campaign, said the next step will be a law imposing a ban on the burka, a loose outfit covering the body from head to toe and wore by some Muslim women.

Many lawmakers have voiced skepticism at the prospect of police forcing women to lift their veils in public, leaving the parliamentary committee mulling more applicable compromises.

The initial proposal is to impose fines of up to €750 on people covering their faces in all public places.

President Nicolas Sarkozy’s ruling Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) has already introduced a draft bill with the proposal in the National Assembly.

But Gerin recommended a more selective ban applying only to public buildings and schools.

The conclusions of the special panel are going to be released in a report by the end of January.

Sarkozy told lawmakers Wednesday that parliament should pass a bill banning the face-veil but said the measure must be handled carefully so as not to stigmatize Muslims.

"We must be careful and not offer an opportunity to the opponents of democracy, dignity and gender equality to score a victory, which would place our society in a very difficult situation," he said.

"It is essential that no one feels stigmatized."

• Debate

Gerin admitted that the full veil remains a "minority phenomenon" among France’s nearly seven million Muslims, Europe's largest Muslim community.

But, he says it is still a problem that requires action.

"Everyone has understood that we have to take charge of things, wake up the Republic and act so that Muslims in France will practice Islam in a way that's compatible with Republican values."

Prime Minister Francois Fillon also waded into the fray saying he was in favor of a ban.

He said the parliament should adopt a resolution outlining France’s rejection of the burka and that several legislative texts and regulations should follow.

"The goal is to ensure that the burka does not have a place in France," Fillon told a meeting with MPs from the UMP party.

The debate over the ban has been raging for months since Sarkozy described it as being "unwelcome" in France.

Many politicians from the left and right have cautioned that a law would be difficult to enforce and probably face a challenge in the European rights court.

In 2004, France banned hijab in schools and public places, a precedent since followed by many European countries.

While hijab is an obligatory code of dress for Muslim women, the majority of Muslim scholars agree that a woman is not obliged to wear the face veil.

Scholars believe it is up to women to decide whether to take on the veil or burka, a loose outfit covering the whole body from head to toe and wore by some Muslim women.