BRUSSELS: It could turn out to be little more than polite words. But European Union policymakers struggling to build stronger relations with Muslim countries have set themselves a new task: hammering out guidelines which would ban the use of terms considered derogatory to Islam.

The focus of the exercise is on stopping the bloc’s officials and documents from using words which are considered offensive to Muslims or give the impression that Europe’s drive against terrorism is specifically aimed at Muslims.

Launched in December last year, the initiative has gained added importance and urgency as the EU struggles to mend relations with Muslim countries following publication earlier this year of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) in several European newspapers.

The cartoons caused outrage in many Muslim countries, leading to violent demonstrations, the deaths of many protesters and attacks on European embassies. After some hesitation and many statements insisting that freedom of press and expression were sacrosanct, EU governments did finally voice some regret that the caricatures had offended so many people.

As EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner pointed out recently, freedom of speech was non-negotiable but so was freedom of religion and the need to respect one another. “We need to be constantly working to improve understanding between different cultures and religions both within the EU and around the world,” said Ferrero-Waldner.

The crisis with the Muslim world caused by the caricatures is the latest in a series of events which, beginning with the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US, have focused western attention on the Islamic world. However, despite the new awareness of Islam, both inside Europe and outside it, most Europeans remain ignorant of many of the basic tenets of the religion.

Western media continue to offer their audiences a simplistic one-sided view of Islam, often giving the impression that the Muslim world is over-flowing with fanatics and extremists and that all Muslim women are veiled, submissive and repressed.

European governments, meanwhile, have also become more aware of the rising frustration of their often marginalised Muslim minorities following last year’s riots in French suburbs by disaffected African and Arab youths.

EU officials say that the search for the correct terminology on Islam is part of an ongoing internal debate within the 25-nation bloc on how best to forge deeper ties with Muslim countries — and reach out to the 20 million Muslims living in Europe.

One way of doing so, they say, is to make clear that Europeans do not equate Islam with terrorism. The emphasis of the new guidelines is on making a clear distinction between the vast majority of peace-loving Muslims and a small minority on the fringes which is abusively invoking Islam for its own purposes.

“Our aim is to clarify the EU discourse on Islam and to ensure there is no link made between any specific religion and terrorism,” says an EU official, adding: “It’s about using vocabulary to avoid misunderstandings and misinterpretations.”

EU insiders say the initiative would stop references to terms like ‘Islamic terrorism’ and ‘fundamentalism’ which critics complain are often used by EU officials when talking about extremist groups operating in or from the Muslim world.

The so-called ‘non-emotive lexicon for public communication’ would also urge officials to be careful when talking about ‘Jihad’. Although the term is currently used by some radical organisations in the Islamic world to mean a combat against non-believers, many Muslims say it refers to an internal, spiritual struggle.

EU insiders say the new lexicon will be non-binding but will probably be endorsed by the bloc’s leaders when they meet in Brussels in June.

That will not be too soon for people like British member of the European Parliament Sajjad Karim who says EU officials must be more careful when they talk about terrorist groups which hide behind the cloak of Islam.

“What we get very often is people in the EU talking about Islamic terrorism when they are in fact talking of violence in the Middle East,” says Karim. But events in Palestine have little to do with Islam and a lot to do with the political frustration of Palestinian people, he says.

“Similarly, when young French Muslims protested last year, they were reflecting the realities of their lack of integration ... it was not about Islam,” Karim insists.

While waiting to see if politically correct language can help ease current strains between Europe and Muslim countries, EU officials including External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner and Javier Solana, the bloc’s foreign and security policy chief, are doing their own bit to bridge the gulf.

Both Ferrero-Waldner and Solana told EU foreign ministers in Salzburg last month that the EU must work with the United Nations, the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Conference to rebuild trust with Muslim countries.

Their strategy paper sent to EU capitals also said that foreign policy measures must be backed up with tougher domestic European legislation to tackle Islamophobia and build a better dialogue with Muslims in Europe.

These initiatives as well as the new EU lexicon may not be enough to get rid of years of misunderstandings. EU officials admit that the struggle to repair relations with Muslim countries will be long and difficult and that bringing European Muslims into the mainstream will require patience and perseverance.

But, thoughtful EU policymakers also warn that a start has to be made somewhere. And many are also hoping that a change in language will also mean a change in Europe’s out-dated and often prejudiced views on Islam and Muslims.