Brussels:
Following the April 22 fall of Premier Yves Leterme's government of Christian Democrats, Liberals and Socialists, Belgium faces early elections.
That may delay passage of the anti-burqa law by many months.
The measure was approved unopposed by the lower house's interior affairs committee March 31 and the lower house itself.
"If all the inhabitants of Belgium for one reason or another decide to hide the face, how can everyone communicate together, because the face allows us to recognise each other. These are the fundamental reasons for the vote today," said Jacques Otlet, a Belgian MP.
The initiative when passed is expected to become law in July and would apply to all public places, including streets.
Anxieties that visible signs of Islam erode national identity are merging with complaints that immigrants are stealing jobs amid the worst economic slump in decades, to deepen a sense of unease in many European countries, small and large alike, over the role of Muslims in society.
Threats against cartoonists and artists over depictions of the prophet Muhammad have also raised fears that Islam is not compatible with Western values of freedom of speech.
Swiss voters recently voted to ban the construction of new minarets.
In recent years, both mosque and minaret construction projects in many European countries, including Sweden, France, Italy, Austria, Greece, Germany and Slovenia have generated protests, some of them violent.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy favours a ban on burqa-style Islamic veils on the grounds that they don't respect French values or women's dignity.
Unlike the Belgians or the Dutch - who see a clear and straightforward public security issue - the French are struggling with the constitutionality of outlawing a religious dress code.
Although their ranks are growing, Muslims make up only small minorities in Western Europe. France has the largest Muslim population of an estimated 5 million, or 7.5 percent of the population, followed by the Netherlands with 6 percent, Germany with 5 percent, Austria with 4.2 percent, Belgium with 3 percent and Britain with 2.7 percent, according to a 2009 study of the Pew Research Centre in Washington.