Soziale Unternehmensführung (CSR)[en][fr] 

As a part of the Lisbon Agenda , the Commission issued a 2001 Green Paper and a 2002 Communication on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). 

In October 2002, the Commission launched the EU Multi Stakeholder Forum on CSR . 

A second communication  was published on 22 March 2006. In this paper, the Commission defines CSR as "a concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis". 

Following the 2006 Communication, the Parliament decided to adopt a resolution  on CSR. The rapporteur for the Employment and Social Affaris Committee is Richard Howitt (PSE, UK), who has already been rapporteur for the CSR green paper and MEP representative on the Multi-Stakeholder Forum. 

The debate since the publication of the Green Paper focused mainly on the issue of mandatory versus voluntary rules. 

Industry emphasises that a voluntary basis of CSR would allow each company to find the methods suitable for its culture and needs. On the other hand, many NGOs and think-tanks are explicitly opposed to the present voluntary approach. They claim that social reporting, auditing and labelling are not efficient and credible without any standardised methods or independent monitoring.

The Commission's  2006 communication provoked anger from civil society organisations and trade unions, who say they will be largely excluded from a CSR alliance the Commission has set up. The alliance brings together only the Commission and enterprise. NGOs are now setting up a coalition of their own, bringing together all signatories of a joint letter at the end of the Multi-stakeholder forum, but also a number of national-level NGOs. 

The draft for the Parliament's resolution has caused similar anger with SME association UEAPME , which 

The Commission said: "NGOs have not been excluded, are not excluded and will not be excluded. They have been part of the broad consultation process and they will be part of the review." It continued, "The Commission will support the organisation of a review meeting with all stakeholders to take stock of progress made in relation to the recommendations of the CSR Forum before the end of 2006. To enhance the transparency, visibility and credibility of CSR practices, the Commission encourages enterprises who support the Alliance to make CSR information available to all stakeholders, including to consumers, investors and the wider public."

The rapporteur, British Labour MEP Richard Howitt, said: "The Commission wants Europe to be 'a pole of excellence' in business, but instead has dumped five years of debate and consultation into a black hole. The Commission says that public authorities should create an enabling environment for CSR yet opts out from any proposals for concrete action for itself, simply repeating generalisations which we have all read before. The failure to build on extensive work since 2001 creates the risk that companies, as well as other interests, will walk away from the debate. If this is all the Commission can come up with, Europe risks being sidelined on a critical issue for the future of business, while the UN Global Compact and the Global Reporting Initiative take the lead on CSR."

Friends of the Earth Europe (FoEE)  said, "Commissioner Verheugen hijacked the CSR process to his jobs and employment agenda. The paper we received is not about improving the environmental and social impact of European companies, but only on how companies can become more competitive and profitable."  FoEE claims that "[the] Commission’s proposal does not include NGOs recommendations like:

• ensuring accountability of companies to their stakeholders;
• social and environmental reporting requirements;
• using public policy measures such as public procurement and public subsidies to stimulate responsible behaviour;
• Implementing international standards and principles;
• involving stakeholders from the early stages of CSR strategy development;
• ensuring independent monitoring/verification."

Paul de Clerck of FoEE said that the Commission can't expect NGOs to automatically take part in the review of EU CSR policy at the end of 2006: "We have to think about the question whether this makes sense - to evaluate something that we already know does not fulfill our wishes."

Anne-Sophie Parent, President of Social Platform, said: "This narrow and exclusionary approach is a dramatic U-turn on CSR from the Commission. The balanced approach to CSR has been hijacked by Commissioner Verheughen to support his 'Jobs and Growth' initiative, ignoring the need to build consensus on this issue."

Green MEP Jean Lambert said: "By underlining the voluntary basis of CSR, the Commission is giving businesses carte blanche to operate as they want, with scant regard for environmental or social concerns. Seeking to drive up standards, while placing companies under no obligation to do so, is wishful thinking. The voluntary approach plays into the hands of businesses that want to maximise their profits by exploiting their employees or at the expense of the environment. If the EU seriously wants to compete it should be on the basis of quality rather than low pay and weak labour standards."

Arnaldo Abruzzini, Secretary General of Eurochambres, said: "The proposed actions of the Alliance seem to be consistent and aligned with the priorities of the Growth and Jobs strategy: to make Europe a pole of excellence on CSR in support of a competitive and sustainable enterprise and market economy.”

UNICE Secretary General Philippe de Buck said: "The Alliance will help to put into practice a large number of the joint recommendations of the final report of the European Multi-stakeholder Forum on CSR. Moreover, it will enable both interested companies and their stakeholders to work together on key issues, such as supply chain and transparency challenges."

The European Trade Union Congress (ETUC) said, "it appears that the debate on the subject of CSR is at risk of taking place without the true participation of the organisations representing the ’social side’. Having received no response so far on the points that remained unresolved after the multi-stakeholders forum, the ETUC wants to express its justified concern about the evolution of an unbalanced, unilateral approach to CSR, that takes account of the viewpoint of only one actor: the companies. While acknowledging the voluntary nature of the CSR approach, the ETUC wishes to emphasise that it is indispensable and fundamental that CSR should be governed by guidelines set at European level.

Manpower declared: "Manpower’s business is, in itself, socially responsible because everything we do is geared toward connecting people with jobs, which enables individuals to support themselves and their families. Our free training programs allow all of our permanent, contract and temporary employees to improve their skills and grow in their careers, thereby improving their long-term career potential. Our outplacement services ensure that, when a client has to eliminate jobs, it is done in a manner that enables individuals to receive the support, training and career counseling they require in finding their way back to employment."