Brussels, 30/06/2004 (Agence Europe) - European Commissioners Stavros Dimos (employment) and Erkki Liikanen (enterprise) received the final report of the multi-stakeholder European forum on corporate social responsibility (CSR) from high-level representatives from business, trades unions and civil society on 29 June. Entitled “Results of the round table on raising awareness of CSR and facilitating exchanges of experience and good practice”, the document in particular lays out recommendations for increasing awareness of CSR and the creation of a favourable environment for the practice of such responsibility. Following the meeting, the Commission will assess the progress made under its 2002 strategy to promote corporate social responsibility (CSR), working particularly from the suggestions made in the forum's report, before adopting a new communication on the subject before the end of the year.
The forum's recommendations can be summarised as follows:
1) Increase awareness of CSR and improve knowledge of: a) stakeholders in the creation of the multi-stakeholder forum can increase awareness of CSR among all their business partners, that is not only other businesses, but also all driving forces in society and particularly consumers; b) businesses with CSR policies which work well can encourage other businesses to adopt appropriate strategies, making their knowledge and experience available. Such cooperation could have real knock-on effects; c) research should be carried out on the many aspects of CSR in order to increase understanding of the concept and also the link between CSR and sustainable development, and between sustainable development and competitiveness.
2) Increase capacity and competences to contribute to the integration of CSR through: a) training in businesses: the development of good attitudes and skills among all employees must be ensured to allow them to deal with the daily practice of CSR; b) the formation of networks, with particular attention to SMEs and businesses in the least developed countries: businesses, which can play a “pedagogical role”, should exchange best practices; c) increased capacities among stakeholders: NGOs, trades unions, the media etc should also invest in training their members on issues linked to CSR in order to develop their role as coordinators or catalysts and to integrate CSR into their own organisations; d) the integration of CSR into the curriculum of schools, universities and other teaching establishments; e) case studies which can serve as teaching aids, particularly for the liberal professions, future leaders and managers and for research into CSR.
3) Create a favourable environment for CSR: through the creation of networks between stakeholders and businesses, collaboration with all relevant partners with a view to creating a documentation centre on CSR and also through efforts by governments and international organisations to implement consistent policies which are favourable to competitiveness and sustainable development.
The report is the culmination of twenty months of discussion. It is based on three round table meetings on improving knowledge of CSR and highlights the points raised in case studies mentioned at those meetings, including: - the impact of CSR on business and society; - tools which can be used to improve CSR; - the integration of CSR into business strategies and structures; - the incorporation of CSR into education and training.
The report anchors corporate social responsibility (CSR) within the framework of the strategy drawn up in 2000 in Lisbon where the leaders of the EU for the first time appealed to businesses' sense of responsibility, said a Commission spokesperson in a communication. The parties have proposed to hold another meeting in two years to take stock of the situation. (The document is available on the website http: //europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/csr/documents.htm).