Following the US Executive Order on ‘Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity’, employers across Europe are receiving letters from the US administration. They are being asked to effectively certify, within five days, that they ‘do not operate any programs promoting DEI that violate any applicable anti-discrimination laws’ in the US. 

To help employers respond to these letters, we have produced a map and table below, setting out the legal position on DEI in different European countries.

The map below summarises the DEI measures that are required by law in several European countries. It includes a number of issues, including measures to promote gender equality; quotas and targets for increasing the number of women on board positions; quotas and targets for hiring people with disabilities; and other positive action measures. The map does not include gender pay gap measures on the basis that similar obligations already exist in US law. Further details on these measures are, however, included in the table below the map.

The table below provides further details on the mandatory obligations in each country, as well as those that are strongly recommended to avoid legal claims or the risk of legal claims arising.

It should be noted that there is a core of anti-discrimination laws in Europe that have been in place for many years, protecting people with certain characteristics (age, race, gender, disability, etc.).  However, these are very well known and so we have generally not enumerated these laws in the table (unless they give rise to specific positive obligations in respect of DEI, or strongly recommended measures). We also haven’t referenced the specific obligation to make reasonable adjustments/accommodations for disabled employees, which also applies across Europe.

The law in this area is nuanced and varies considerably across the European continent. If you have received a letter from the US authorities, or have more general queries about the current situation, we recommend that you contact us at [email protected] and we will put you in touch with experts who can advise you.