Laws restricting what type of headscarfs Islamic women can wear in public have swept Europe, beginning in 2011, when France became the first nation to ban full-face veils . Along with national laws aimed at the Islamic veils in public places in France, Austria, and Belgium, lawmakers in the Netherlands have proposed a similar law and individual cities in Spain and Italy have put restrictions on the veils. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has also said niqabs and burqas should be banned in her country, and just last week the German Parliament approved banning civil servants , judges, and soldiers from wearing the veils (though it still needs to pass the upper house before becoming law).