legislation, politics, and history of religious slaughter. (The country specific reports are included as appendixes to this report).
1.1 France France has an estimated population of 65.1 million people (2009). According to French National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies France has an estimated 4.9 million foreign-born immigrants, of which 2 million have acquired French citizenship. The current Jewish community in France numbers to around 600,000 according to the World Jewish Congress and is the largest Jewish population in Europe. The Jewish community amounts to slightly more than 1% of the total population of France. Around 300.000 Jews live in Paris region. Approximately 25% of the French Jews observe kashrut and the number of kosher butchers, restaurants and shops in Paris and elsewhere is growing (Florence BergeaudBlackler 2008). As a consequence of France’s colonial history and the politics of migration over the last 50 years, France has today the largest Muslim population in Europe. Islam is France’s second largest religion (10 %) behind Catholicism (85%), and far in front of Protestantism (2%) and Judaism (1%). The Muslim population is predominately of Arab and North African origin, followed by Turkish and West African populations. The Muslim population 1 of France counts approximately 3 million people to date, of which 2.900.000 are of North African origin (Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia). From 1905 France has had a law on the separation of the Church and State. The exercise of religious worship is governed by the law of December 9, 1905 which stipulates that the Republic "guarantees freedom of conscience" and "freedom of religious worship" but "does not recognise, employ nor subsidize any one religion." Decree (Arrêté) of 15. December 1994 is related to the approval of a religious body empowering ritual slaughterers. The Great Mosque of Paris involving the company of the habous and Holy Places of Islam is approved as a religious body to empower slaughterers permitted to practice ritual sticking. Three mosques were given approval by the Minister of Agriculture to issue licences for religious slaughter men, which allow abattoirs to work as well as undertake ‘ritual’ slaughter during festivals. The decrees (Arrêtés) of 27 of June 1996 concerning the approval of religious bodies empowering ritual slaughterers were granted approval for the practice of ritual sticking (Florence Bergeaud-Blackler 2008).
1.2 Germany In 2005 the total population in Germany was approximately 82.5 million. Among these there are about 15 million inhabitants with a migration background (Statistisches Bundesamt, Statistisches Jahrbuch 2007). The number of Jews in Germany today is more than 200.000. Germany has the fastest growing and the third-largest Jewish population in Europe today (after France and the United Kingdom). About 108.000 Jews in Germany are officially registered in Jewish religious communities. The two largest umbrella organisations for the Jewish religious communities are the Central Council of Jews in Germany (Zentralrat der 1
In addition to the high number of Muslims in France of Arab and North African origin, 100.000 come from the Middle East (Libya, Syria, Iraq, Egypt), 315.000 are of Turkish or Kurdish origin, 250.000 are of African origin (black), 100.000 Muslims are of Asian origin. Morever 40.000 have converted to Islam and ‘others’ are estimated to 450.000.
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