Strasbourg, 03/07/2002 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday afternoon, Commissioners Anna Diamantopoulou and Erkki Liikanen presented the communication on corporate social responsibility to the European Parliament in the context of the search for sustainable development, which, said Ms Diamantopoulou, is not only the affair of governments and individuals. Some companies already recognise this, she remarked, but the Commission's action plan can give the effort added value which is complementary compared to other initiatives taken in the context of OECD and the United Nations. The Commission proposes the establishment of a Forum to bring together the management and staff of companies and the civil society in order to examine how to contribute to the diffusion of good practices in this field and possibly establish a code of good conduct. In answer to MEPs, Ms Diamantopoulou specified that the Forum would meet twice yearly and that no additional budgetary line is foreseen. It will present its first report before 2004 and will be open to observers, including to the European Parliament. Ms Diamantopoulou said the Commission also took into account suggestions contained in the report by the British Labour MEP Robert Howitt, adopted by Parliament. Liikanen stressed the importance of ethical considerations in business affairs, pointing out that the idea of appealing to the business world and mobilising it in this direction has been mooted a long time ago by Jacques Delors.