Paris (AP) – A French Minister accused American diplomats on Sunday of interfering in the operations of French companies by sending them a letter telling them that the rollback of the American president Donald Trump of Diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives could also apply outside the United States.
The French media said that the letter received by major French companies had been signed by an American state officer who is one of the staff of the United States Embassy in Paris. The embassy did not answer questions this weekend of the Associated Press.
The Daily Le Figaro newspaper published what he said was a copy of the letter. The document indicates that a decree Trump signed in January The implementation of DEI programs within the federal government “also applies to all the providers of the American government, regardless of their nationality and the country in which they operate”.
The document asked the recipients to finish, sign and return within five days a separate certification form to demonstrate that they are in accordance.
This form, also published by Le Figaro, said: “All entrepreneurs from the Ministry of State must certify that they do not manage any program promoting Dei which violates the applicable anti-discrimination laws.”
The form asked the beneficiaries to check a box to confirm that they “do not exploit any program promoting diversity, equity and inclusion which violate all the anti-discrimination applicable 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 send to our legal services.”
Aurore Bergé, French Minister of Equality between Women and Men and the fight against discrimination, said on Sunday that the letter was “a form, obviously, of interference. This is to say that it is an attempt to impose a diktat on our businesses ”.
Addressing the BFMTV broadcaster, she said that the French government “follows the situation very closely” and works to determine how many companies have received the letter.
The Minister said that “many” companies have told the government that they did not plan to answer: “Because they have no response, in fact, to a kind of ultimatum presented by the United States Embassy in our country.”
“It is out of the question that we will prevent our business from promoting social progress,” said the minister. “Fortunately, many French companies do not plan to change their rules.”
