“Now is moment to take strong stand”
The extraordinarily poorly reported pressure being exerted by the United States on European companies to drop diversity programmes has been sharply rebuffed by two Portuguese official bodies, while the government remains in what must be an uncomfortable silence.
Even more ‘surprising’ is that the strong-arm response comes from the mouths of two professional women.
As ECO online picked up this week from a report in Euronews, the US government is sending out letters to European companies that supply its embassies and military bases informing them they should abandon their diversity, equity and inclusion programmes (DEI), or risk not receiving further payments.
With the wider world seriously discussing the possibility that the US administration of Donald Trump has slipped into a form of fascism, CITE – Portugal’s Commission for Equality in Labour and Employment – has admitted that the letters represent “an unacceptable intrusion into the internal politics of third states”, as well as of the European Union itself.
They are a “sign of regression” in human rights, which should not be entertained, even if companies are concerned about losing lucrative contracts. As CITE’s president Carla Tavares tells ECO, there may initially be “a temptation on the part of some companies to give in to these pressures” but there is “a set of values and European legislation that advocates the exact opposite”.
“This is the moment for the European Union and the Member States to be even firmer in affirming their values of defending human rights and combating all forms of discrimination,’ she stresses.
But what exactly is going to happen? ECO poses this question, to hear that “if necessary” CITE will notify the government (currently focused on trying to win an election campaign…) of any worrying situation that violates the rules not only of national law, but also of European law”.
Dotting i’s and crossing t’s, ECO has reached out to the government to receive, it says, “only silence”: an initial approach to the Ministry of Economy saw ECO referred to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which so far has said nothing.
Enter another professional woman: Mónica Canário of the Portuguese Association for Diversity and Inclusion (APPDI). She too is “very concerned about the letters sent to the Portuguese companies”, says ECO. “They show a lack of respect for the sovereignty of countries and organisations”, Canário tells the paper.
“Europe is Europe. The United States is the United States. However, we are very concerned about this stance taken by the United States,” she said, suggesting “it is an example of how Donald Trump’s administration is going to deal with the world over the next four years.”
In the eyes of Mónica Canário (and Carla Tavares), it is up to companies in receipt of these letters to take a stand, and believe that “there are those in the market who can replace the US government as a client”.
“We warn companies not to go along with these policies”, said Canário, speaking for APPDI – and recalling that both France and Spain have already said as much, if not more, while letters have also been received by companies in Belgium, Italy, central and eastern Europe.
ECO adds that associations like CITE and APPDI in the 25 member states that promote diversity charters are finalising an open letter to European institutions, demanding that legislation be drawn-up to protect the most vulnerable and under-represented groups.
It is no secret that Donald Trump has never been a fan of DEI programmes. It is also no secret that other people in business may find these programmes tiresome. But refusing to do business with companies that give the most vulnerable in society a chance to be included does indeed smack of fascism. ND
Source: ECO
