Brussels, 03/02/2006 (Agence Europe) - In a joint statement on 20 January, European social partners in the postal sector, under the umbrella of PostEurop and UNI Europa Postal, stressed the promotion of social responsibility in companies within the sector. The conference, held in Rome on 27-28 October 2005, with experts, representatives of the European Commission and social partners in attendance, already made a contribution to the opening of the postal sector to the process of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility), defined in the 2001 Green Paper on promoting a European framework for Corporate Social Responsibility. The statement says that “corporate social responsibility is developing in the Postal Sector” and points out that “CSR is an important concept for a company's management and work force and is helpful for a company's long-term success”. In today's globalised world, “CSR can help the Postal Enterprises add value to their business”, for example, by developing innovative products, improving the quality of the service and productivity and attracting and retaining good employees etc. The social partners aim, therefore, to promote corporate social responsibility throughout daily business activities, raise awareness about CSR in the European postal sector through dialogue and exchange of information, develop social dialogue between employers and employees on issues related to corporate social responsibility, familiarise people about existing initiatives (principally via the Internet) and contribute to the development of a CSR-approach in accordance with the Lisbon Strategy.