The European Commission recently published a communication on a renewed EU strategy (2011-2014) for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The communication notes the relevance of CSR to the current economic landscape in Europe. The lack of trust in business, such as banks, has led to growing public focus on the ethical aspects of companies and the larger scope of CSR.
In general I find the term CSR rather poor for describing its intended scope, and it does not have a universal definition which contributes to confusion around the topic. The Commission has simplified its definition of CSR to “the responsibility of enterprises for their impacts on society”. The earlier definition was more comprehensive: “a concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis”.
For me, the crucial part of CSR is the importance of environmental and societal factors in company’s core strategy as a tool for both risk mitigation and innovation. The CSR concept has in some way been damaged by companies that have used it purely for marketing purposes (sometimes exaggerated or ‘green washing’) without linking it to the actual company business and the expectations of its stakeholders.
The EU Commissions states that its CSR policy will be further advanced due to factors including:
- The need to better clarify what is expected of enterprises and to make the EU definition of CSR consistent with new and updated international principle and guidelines.
- The need to give greater attention to human rights, which have become a significantly more prominent aspect of CSR
- The need to acknowledge the role that complementary regulations plays in creating an environment more conducive to enterprises voluntarily meeting their social responsibility.
The EU has launched various initiatives to advance CSR within EU based companies, such as the European Multistakeholder Forum on CSR and the European Alliance on CSR but the new CSR policy also refers to more global initiatives such as ISO 26000, Global Reporting Initiative and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. I must say that I have not heard much about the EU based initiatives but they may play an important role in giving a common discussion base for CSR policies in EU member states and serve as a forum for exchanging best practices.
The Commission’s communication on CSR can be found here.
