Belgium will vote today on whether to become the first European country to impose a full ban on wearing a burka.
The proposed law would mean women could be jailed for up to seven days for hiding their faces.
The legislation - which has widespread support among MPs - would means burkas, niqabs and other Islamic full face veils would be outlawed from public places.
The vote comes a day after French president Nicolas Sarkozy said France would also vote on a ban.
His spokesman Luc Chatel said MPs would debate the proposal in mid-May, and if passed the garb could be outlawed in France by June.
In Belgium, the draft law has the backing of all five parties in the nation's coalition government.
Centre-right MP Daniel Bacquelaine said: 'The notion of recognising people in the street is essential to maintain public order.
'It's also a question of human dignity. The full face veil turns a woman into a walking prison, and we have widespread cross-party support to have this item outlawed.'
Leen Dierick, of the Belgian parliament's interior affairs committee, said: 'There is all-party public support for this.
'The point is not outlawing religious freedom, but public security and the need to show one's face in public.'
Belgain daily Le Soir said under the proposed law, women would be fined £110 for the first offence of wearing a burqa.
But if they refused to pay or were caught a second time, they would be jailed for a week.
There is also widespread support for a ban on burquas and niqabs in the Netherlands.
In Switzerland, the construction of minarets was recently banned.
In France, immigration minister Eric Besson has branded the garment a 'walking coffin'.
President Sarkozy said last year described burkas as a 'sign of debasement, adding: 'They make women prisoners and deprive them of their identity.'
Too right. Its nothing to do with Islam, its mainly to do with moslem men oppressing women, and its offensive to western custom and culture. I personally find the practice offensive and divisive.