Companies rise to the continental challenge

April 01, 1997

As the European Commission urges companies to get more involved in solving Europe’s social problems, a distinctive continental model of corporate citizenship is starting to emerge.

PRACTICAL ACTION

Businesses across Europe are getting more involved in projects to tackle social exclusion through measures such as training and job creation for long term unemployed, employee involvement and purchasing policies, a study by the European Business Network for Social Cohesion has found. Published in February as Corporate Initiatives: putting into practice the European Declaration of Business against Exclusion, it offers a detailed 200 page guide to one hundred examples of corporate action. So far thirty companies have joined the network, including BT, whose community affairs manager, Stephen Serpell is vice chair and leads the initiative in the UK, Levi Strauss, Marks & Spencer, Tate & Lyle and the London Enterprise Agency. The Network is also producing a regular newsletter on progress three times a year for interested partners. Contact Ann Vandenhende, EBNSC, on 00 32 2 549 0301

EUROPEAN PROGRAMMES

The 1997 Leonardo da Vinci programme which offers funds for vocational training was launched in Brussels at the start of February. The current priorities include forging closer links between businesss and educational establishments, combating social exclusion, and acquiring IT skills through lifelong learning.

Phare, the EU’s main assistance programme for central and eastern Europe, is to be refocused on supporting investment to improve enterprises and infrastructure and on strengthening democratic institutions and public administration, the Commission decided on March 19.

In a separate development, the Commission has adopted its first annual report on equal opportunities for women and men, reporting progress within the new legal framework for equal pay and treatment at work. On average women in Europe earn about 20% less than their male counterparts. In February the Commission published a handbook for tour operators, Making Europe accessible for tourists with disabilities, which explains the main types of disabilities and the services they need. Contact European Commission London Office on 0171 973 1992

STRUCTURAL FUNDS

Ten UK regions facing industrial decline will gain from EU funding worth 2.5 billion ECU, it was announced at the start of March, to be matched with 819 million ECU from the private sector and 2.5 billion ECU from national public expenditure. The programme comes under Objective 2 of the Structural Funds which aim to strengthen the competitiveness of weaker regions. At the same time, the British government announced the results of a second round of Regional Challenge under which ?160 million of European funding is awarded to individual projects on a competitive basis depending in part on the private sector contribution. The 34 projects in the first round, also worth ?160 million, have generated nearly ?360 million in private funds. Contact DTI Enquiries on 0171 215 5000 or European Commission London Office on 0171 973 1992

JOBS CLOSE TO HOME

Childcare, elder care and other traditionally unpaid home services can be a major source of new jobs, as demographic and labour force changes, especially the growing numbers of working women, take effect. A European Commission funded study of ‘proximity services’ has identified these and other services previously being done by the public sector, such as housing security and recycling, as suitable for the voluntary sector, community businesses and small firms. In March the London Enterprise Agency called on large companies to use community affairs budgets to help fund developmental work, training and the production of business plans. Contact Brian Wright, LEntA, on 0171 236 3000

BULGARIAN CRISIS

Non-governmental organisations have a crucial role to play in rebuilding civil society in Bulgaria, which is facing collapse in an increasingly explosive economic and political climate, says leading journalist, Ivan Mastagarkov. In a pamphlet published by the Charities Aid Foundation in March, The Invisible Crisis: Bulgaria today, he warns that the level of foreign investment is low compared to neighbouring countries because of economic uncertainty. Contact Maurice Cronly, CAF, on 0171 400 2300 (>

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The European Business Network for Social Cohesion started in response to a call in 1995 from Jacques Delors, then Commission president, for companies to get involved in the work of the EU on combating unemployment and other causes of social exclusion. While the number of active companies is still small and an acceptance of business participation still patchy, the EBNSC has come a long way in a short time.

Anyone from the UK listening to the debates of organisations like the employers federation, UNICE, the ETUC and the Commission, as well as individual national governments, experiences a sense of time-warp, back ten years. Where to draw the boundaries between the state, the private sector, individuals and communities? Is the social market and the Rhineland model still viable? How can pensions and the welfare state be funded? The tide of Euro-scepticism in the UK risks letting a real opportunity to influence that debate go by default.

Just as the UK differs from the US, corporate citizenship on the continent will not replicate the UK model: more focused on partnership with government programmes, more concerned about direct economic questions like unemployment and not just the social consequences, less driven by the need to protect and enhance corporate reputation. Given the near-zero starting point, there is also a tremendous opportunity to skip the philanthropic phase and move straight to a business case rationale. Now is the time for UK-based community affairs managers to assist their continental counterparts.

Corporate Citizenship Briefing, issue no: 33 – April, 1997

COMMENT:

The European Business Network for Social Cohesion started in response to a call in 1995 from Jacques Delors, then Commission president, for companies to get involved in the work of the EU on combating unemployment and other causes of social exclusion. While the number of active companies is still small and an acceptance of business participation still patchy, the EBNSC has come a long way in a short time.

Anyone from the UK listening to the debates of organisations like the employers federation, UNICE, the ETUC and the Commission, as well as individual national governments, experiences a sense of time-warp, back ten years. Where to draw the boundaries between the state, the private sector, individuals and communities? Is the social market and the Rhineland model still viable? How can pensions and the welfare state be funded? The tide of Euro-scepticism in the UK risks letting a real opportunity to influence that debate go by default.

Just as the UK differs from the US, corporate citizenship on the continent will not replicate the UK model: more focused on partnership with government programmes, more concerned about direct economic questions like unemployment and not just the social consequences, less driven by the need to protect and enhance corporate reputation. Given the near-zero starting point, there is also a tremendous opportunity to skip the philanthropic phase and move straight to a business case rationale. Now is the time for UK-based community affairs managers to assist their continental counterparts.

Corporate Citizenship Briefing, issue no: 33 – April, 1997

COMMENTS