French press and a European minister claimed that US officials have been interfering in the activities of European firms by forcing them to agree with President Donald Trump’s reset of DEI ( diversity, equity, and inclusion ) activities. The US officials in France evidently sent a notice to European firms they work with asking them to abide by Trump’s new laws.
French press said that the letter received by big European firms was signed by an agent of the US State Department who is on the team at the US Embassy in Paris. The ambassador didn’t respond to questions this weekend from The Associated Press.
The letter, as accessed by Le Figaro news, said Trump signed an executive order in January ending DEI initiatives within the federal government also “applies to all vendors and service companies of the US Government, regardless of their citizenship and the state in which they operate”.
The report asked consumers to complete, sign and return within five times a distinct certification type to show that they are in compliance.
” All Department of State contractors must certify that they do not operate any programs promoting DEI that violate any applicable anti-discrimination laws”, the letter said. ” 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”, it added.
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”. The minister said the government is following the situation very closely.
The minister said that “many” companies have told the government that they don’t plan to reply “because they don’t have a respond, in fact, to a sort of ultimatum laid out by the US Embassy in our country”.
