An Islamic ethics class at the Averroes school, France's biggest Muslim educational institution that has lost its state funding on grounds of administrative failures and questionable teaching practises. /Ardee Napolitano/Reuters

President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday chaired a security meeting following the publication of a report sounding the alarm about the Muslim Brotherhood and the spread of "political Islamism" in France.

The meeting, including the head of government and key ministers, addressed a report that calls for action to address the rising influence of the Islamist movement which it said poses "a threat to national cohesion" in France.

After the meeting, measures will be taken, "some of which will be announced" and others will remain classified, according to the Elysee Palace.

Macron's Renaissance party wants to ban minors under 15 from wearing the Muslim headscarf in public spaces, saying the hijab "seriously undermines gender equality and the protection of children."

The party also wants to introduce a "criminal offence for coercion against parents who force their underage daughters to wear the veil."

Critics see the headscarf worn by Muslim women as a symbol of creeping Islamisation after deadly jihadist attacks in France, while others say they are just practising their religion and should wear what they want.

The report, commissioned by the government and prepared by two senior civil servants, "clearly establishes the anti-republican and subversive nature of the Muslim Brotherhood" and "proposes ways to address this threat," said the Elysee Palace.

France and Germany have the largest Muslim populations among European Union countries. 

France's authorities are eager to prevent any spread of extremist Islamist ideas in a country that has been rocked by a string of deadly jihadist attacks.

Religious radicalisation has become a hot-button issue as the political landscape in France is shifting and the far-right is becoming increasingly popular. Critics have condemned what they call the rise of Islamophobia in France.

The report pointed to the spread of Islamism "from the bottom up", adding the phenomenon constituted "a threat in the short to medium term".

"The movement is present in Europe and its target is clearly Europe," the Elysee Palace said, adding that it was necessary to "raise awareness within the European Union."

At the same time, the French presidency stressed, "we are all perfectly aligned in saying that we must not lump all Muslims together." 

"We are fighting against Islamism and its radical excesses," added the presidency.

The report zeroed in on the role of Muslims in France (Musulmans de France), which it identified as "the national branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in France."

'Subtle but subversive aim'

The Federation of Muslims of France denounced "unfounded accusations" and warned against "dangerous" conflation between Islam and radicalism.

"We firmly reject any allegation that attempts to associate us with a foreign political project or an 'entryism' strategy," it said.

The report said however that "no recent document demonstrates the desire of Muslims in France to establish an Islamic state in France or to enforce Sharia law there."

But the threat was real, the authors said.

"We are not dealing with aggressive separatism" but a "subtle...yet no less subversive aim for the institutions."

The government is also pushing for a new law to ban the headscarf in domestic sports competitions, a move critics of the law argue would be just the latest rule discriminating against visibly Muslim women.

Under current French legislation, civil servants, teachers and pupils cannot wear any obvious religious symbols such as a Christian cross, Jewish kippa, Sikh turban or Muslim hijab in government buildings, which includes public schools.

Arab ban

Last month Jordan outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood, the country's most vocal opposition group, and confiscated its assets after members of the group were found to be linked to a sabotage plot.

The Muslim Brotherhood, one of the Arab world's oldest and most influential Islamist movements, has denied links to the plot but admitted members may have engaged in an individual capacity in arms smuggling to Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

Opponents of the Brotherhood, which is outlawed in most Arab countries, call it a dangerous terrorist group that should be crushed. The movement says it publicly renounced violence decades ago and pursues an Islamist vision using peaceful means.