In March 2006, after several months of delay, the Commission issued a new communication on Corporate Social Responsibility entitled: “Implementing the partnership for growth and jobs, making Europe a pole of excellence on Corporate Social Responsibility”. This short document (6 pages + annexes) propose a “new partnership with enterprises”, a new alliance, which will help:

• To raise awareness and improve knowledge on CSR
• To mainstream and develop open coalitions of co-operation
• To ensure an enabling environment for CSR

CSR is regarded as “increasingly important for the smooth functioning of the market economy”. It can “help bring about both a more responsible business community and a more entrepreneurial and business-friendly Europe”.

The Commission also announced a review of the Multi-stakeholders Forum, which will help evaluate the progress made and the gaps still to bridge.

Read the Communication

NGOs’ position on this communication

The result of the communication is dramatic and neglects developments from the international CSR debate from the past decade. We see this communication as more of a public relations exercise than a real commitment from the Commission and enterprises to work together for more responsible business. It came to be known that in the two years between the end of the MSF and the publication of the Communication, DG Enterprise and Industry at the Commission had been holding talks with European business representatives, such as UNICE and CSR Europe. A multistakeholder approach, recognised as a core principle of CSR and promoted by the EU in the past, had been abandoned outright.

NGOs main concerns regarding the communication are:

• CSR is mainly seen as a way to improve competitiveness and growth. Competitiveness is mentioned 10 times in the document, whereas sustainability appears only three times.

• NGOs were not consulted to prepare this communication. The communication is an outcome of several meetings between businesses and the commission.

• Neither reporting nor mandatory rules are considered. Enterprises are “invited” to CSR.

The weakness of the communication did not add any value to CSR practices. The whole CSR process, which began in 2001 and culminated with the Multi-stakeholders Forum, was therefore seen as a loss of time for most NGOs.

In a letter signed by Social Platform, Amnesty International European Office, IIED, BEUC, Solidar, Oxfam, Traidcraft and FIDH, NGOs refused to accept the outcomes of the forum and its conclusion, emphasising the necessity for Corporate Social Responsibility to:

• ensure accountability of companies to their stakeholders
• contain social and environmental reporting requirements
• use public policy measures such as public procurement and public subsidies to stimulate responsible behaviour
• implement international standards and principles
• involve stakeholders from the early stages of CSR strategy development
• ensure independent monitoring and verification of CSR activities.

In 2002, taking into account the results of the consultation process, the Commission published a “Communication concerning Corporate Social Responsibility, a business contribution to sustainable development". This document further elaborate on the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility, recognising:

- its voluntary nature

- the need for credibility and transparency of CSR practices

- the compatibility with existing international agreements and instruments

The Commission proposed to focus on the activities where community involvement could add value, paying particular attention to the needs and characteristics of SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) and specifically to:

- improving knowledge on CSR and facilitating the exchange of experiences and good practices

- promoting the convergence and transparency of CSR practices and tools (mainly codes of conduct and reporting processes)

- launching a Multi-stakeholders Forum on CSR (following a proposal made by the European Parliament)

The Multi-stakeholder Forum (MSF) was officially launched in October 2002, convening representatives of employers’ organisations, business groups, trade unions and NGOs.

The Forum had to elaborate proposals on two particular issues:

• mainstreaming good practices
• achieving efficient and transparent communication of those practices by using the right instruments. Stakeholders met several times during a two years period to discuss these issues.

The aim of this exercise was to come to a common understanding among stakeholders and to lay the groundwork for a European framework on CSR. An array of stakeholders, including NGOs, trade unions and businesses spent a considerable amount of time and resources on the Multistakeholders forum, which took almost two years to complete (2002-2004). The NGOs that entered into the process did so because of the urgent need to increase positive and reduce negative imapcts of businesses on society and the environment, and in recognition of the important role the EU could play.

A number of substantive recommendations came out of the forum, which - if fully implemented by the relevant actors- could have a significant impact. For that to happen, however, NGOs believe that regulatory measures are needed to complement the many voluntary CSR initiatives that currently only work for the well-intentioned. These could be more effective and be mainstreamed at a much higher pace if supported by clear and fair regulatory measures from the EU.

During the MSF, the NGOs called on the EU to take the lead in the development of an effective European CSR framework. Such a framework should be based on internationally agreed standards and principles, such as the OECD Guidelines and ILO conventions, involve all stakeholders from the early stages of development and include credible provisions for the monitoring and verification of the standards, codes of conduct and other ethical claims.

The exchanges they had led to the preparation of a final report (see document below), published in June 2004, including all recommendations from the different stakeholders.

The final report developed a set of recommendations focusing on three particular areas:

• raise awareness on core values and key principles
• develop the capacities and competences to help mainstream CSR
• ensure an enabling environment for CSR

A few recommendations were positive, notably:

• The necessity of increasing exchanges of experience between purchasers and suppliers to build capacity in sustainable supply chain management
• The examination of business performance in relation to CSR objectives
• The necessity for public authorities to ensure that there is a legal framework and the right economic and social conditions to allow companies which wish to go further through CSR to benefite from it
• A call to member states and the EU institutions to consider and evaluate the use of public funds

A final communication from the Commission was to be released following the MSF, but two years went by before it was finally made public. The EU CSR Communication presented in March 2006 is the Commission’s answer to the MSF on CSR that ended in 2004.