The head of the development of EU CSR policy development argues public policies must shift up a gear and work harder to engender deeper trust from consumers, investors and society.
Why are you personally interested in CSR?
Corporate social responsibility reflects the changing world in the face of the challenge that the corporate world faces in becoming more sustainable. As enterprises change their governance practices, they are facing fresh social and environmental demands from stakeholders, in addition to long-standing demands from shareholders.
What role does the EU Commission/Employment and Social Affairs Directorate have in the CSR policy debate in Europe/UK?
CSR has been on the EU agenda since the Lisbon European Council launched an appeal to European companies to embrace social responsibility in March 2000, a few months after the collapse of the 1999 Seattle trade talks.
The Commission not only began raising awareness about the concept of CSR among the corporate community, but also among governments and stakeholders across Europe. It has been rather successful in catalysing the interest surrounding CSR. Today, while pursuing this first objective, it proposes to define a common reference framework for CSR practices and instruments.
What are your hopes for CSR policy in Europe in the next 5 years?
Public policies face a double challenge. On the one hand, it is time to shift gears – from awareness-raising activities and pilot actions to making CSR a mainstream business practice.
While awareness of CSR has greatly improved over the past few years, the uptake and integration of it by European enterprises could be further improved. On the other hand, public trust in CSR commitments and claims by businesses are key to the ‘sustainability’ of CSR as a policy instrument. Consumers, investors and society at large need to be convinced that CSR claims are trustworthy, if they are to reward responsible business behaviour through their buying and investment decisions. In other words, enterprises need to be accountable regarding their CSR claims and public policies have a role to play in facilitating the access to information regarding companies’ CSR performance.
Does the corporate sector in Europe need additional regulation to force the issue of CSR?
Our assumption is that market actors drive CSR, more than legislation. When mandated, CSR is no longer CSR, but mere regulation. The experience in environmental matters tells us, however, that requiring transparency about companies’ sustainability performance without mandating any level of performance can be a very powerful driver for improvement. Today several European governments are already mandating transparency about CSR performance without forcing companies to reach a specific level of CSR performance, for example the UK Pensions Disclosure Regulation.
How do policy-makers overcome the issue of ‘cultural difference’ between EU member states when formulating policy and guidance?
There are obviously still cultural differences in the way EU member states approach CSR. There is, however, a significant convergence in the approaches, around the concept of CSR as an instrument that contributes to sustainability in its economic, social and environmental dimensions. Furthermore the main challenge faced by policy makers is very similar across Europe: how to promote CSR further in an effective and credible way.
Does the UK international framework for CSR announced in March add to the debate?
Indeed, it shows a convergence of approaches with the Commission, recognising that CSR is related to the three pillars of sustainable development. It also acknowledges the global dimension of CSR, at national, European and international levels. Finally it concurs with the Commission view that we need points of reference to further develop CSR in an effective way.
Corporate Citizenship Briefing, issue no: 81 – April, 2005
Deputy Head of the Unit for Social Dialogue and Adaptation to Change ? EU Commission/ Employment and Social Affairs Directorate. Dominique Bé, a French national, is deputy head of the unit for social dialogue and adaptation to change, in the directorate general for employment and social affairs of the European Commission. He is in charge of the development of the European policy on corporate social responsibility. Prior to joining the European Commission in 1985, Dominique, an economist by training, worked for the United States Mission to European Communities and the Federation of Belgian Enterprises.
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