“We have a culture of non-discrimination in Europe and we must continue that,” Belgian Deputy Prime Minister Jan Jambon said Sunday evening on the French-language TV channel RTL-TVi. “We have no lessons to learn from the boss of America.”
Several French companies received a letter — first reported by Les Echos and obtained by POLITICO — requiring them to certify that they don’t implement DEI or positive discrimination programs.
“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 teams,” reads the request sent to French companies and signed by Stanislas Parmentier, the contracting officer at the U.S. embassy in Paris.
Companies in other EU countries including Italy, Spain and Belgium reportedly received similar requests.
“American interference in the inclusion policies of French companies, as well as unjustified threats of tariffs, are unacceptable,” France’s trade ministry said in a statement on Saturday.
The office of the economy minister, Eric Lombard, said the minister would raise the issue with his American counterparts.