US president Donald Trump has repeatedly taken aim at Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programmes in the US, especially in government offices, claiming that they were discriminatory.
The US government has sent a letter to major EU corporations, demanding that they adhere to an executive order signed by US president Donald Trump banning diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes, according to the Financial Times.
This letter, distributed by the American embassy in Paris, among others, highlighted that the DEI executive order applied to US government service providers or suppliers, even if they were based outside of the US.
US diplomats in Belgium and eastern EU countries also distributed this letter to companies, with Italian and Spanish corporations receiving it as well.
The letter was first reported by French daily financial newspaper Les Echos. Although it is unclear which EU companies received this letter, in France, defence, aviation, infrastructure and consulting companies are likely to be the most vulnerable to such a demand.
In the US, the US Federal Communications Commission has already informed media giant Walt Disney and its ABC division that it will be starting an investigation into its DEI practices.
A French minister on Sunday accused US diplomats of interfering in the operations of French companies.
The US embassy didn’t respond to questions this weekend from The Associated Press.
The document also asked recipients to complete, sign and return within five days a separate certification form to demonstrate that they are in compliance.
That form, also published by Le Figaro, said: “All Department of State contractors must certify that they do not operate any programs promoting DEI that violate any applicable anti-discrimination laws.”
The form asked recipients to tick a box to confirm that they “do not operate any programs promoting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion that violate any applicable Federal anti-discrimination laws.”
The letter added: “If you do not agree to sign this document, we would appreciate it if you could provide detailed reasons, which we will forward to our legal services.”
Aurore Bergé, France’s minister for equality between women and men and combating discrimination, said Sunday that the letter is “a form, obviously, of interference. That’s to say it’s an attempt to impose a diktat on our businesses”.
Speaking to broadcaster BFMTV, she said that France’s government is “following the situation very closely” and working to determine how many companies received the letter.
The minister said that “many” companies have told the government that they don’t plan to reply.
“It’s out of the question that we’ll prevent our business from promoting social progress,” the minister said.
“Thankfully, a lot of French companies don’t plan to change their rules,” she added.
Euronews has contacted the American Chamber of Commerce to the EU for comment.
Why is Trump clamping down on DEI programmes?
Ever since his presidential campaigning days, Trump has consistently denounced DEI practices across the US, but especially in government offices, claiming that they were discriminatory.
He also promised to “forge a society that is colourblind and merit-based” in his Inauguration Day address.
On 20 January this year, Trump has issued an executive order, called “Ending radical and wasteful government DEI programs and preferencing”, which reverses Joe Biden’s 2021 moves to boost DEI programs in the federal government.
This new order meant that all federal government DEI programmes, offices, plans, positions, actions and initiatives would be wrapped up within 60 days. Employees of federal accessibility and DEI offices were also put on paid administration leave.
Another executive order, known as “Defending women from gender ideology extremism and restoring biological truth to the federal government”, also requires the federal government to take out all racial gender ideology communication, guidance, forms and policies.
Critics of DEI policies have slammed measures such as tying executive compensation to diversity goals, or offering sponsored internship and fellowship programmes to people from only certain groups. Hiring targets for people of colour and women have been criticised as well.
