MEPs call for tougher EU line on businesses PDF Print E-mail

19.12.2006  Helena Spongenberg


EUOBSERVER

MEPs are calling on the European Commission to push EU businesses to take the economic, social and environmental impacts of their activities more into consideration wherever they operate in the world.

Members of the European Parliament's employment and social affairs committee on Tuesday approved a report on corporate social responsibility (CSR) written by UK Labour MEP Richard Howitt.



"This is a strong political signal to the commission that they should put their words into action," said Mr Howitt, adding "that it is now time for the commission to deliver."

"We have had enough of conferences, forums and talking shops," he told EUobserver.

Annual reports on social and environmental issues should be part of big businesses' annual financial reports, said Mr Howitt, who added that he had come in for a lot of lobbying but also support when writing the report - a response to a commission communication on corporate social responsibility launched in March this year.

In it, the EU executive proposed setting up an alliance of companies with the aim of raising awareness of CSR and developing open cooperation in the area.

Voluntary or mandatory
But the communication steered away from suggestion formal legislation in the area leading critics to say that they were appeasing big European businesses who do not want their competitiveness undermined by regulation.

A leaked internal letter from the European employers group - UNICE - at the time called the proposal a "true success" because "concessions to other stakeholders...will have no real impact."

Earlier this month, the European Coalition for Corporate Justice (ECCJ) and international federation of human rights (FIDH) boycotted a forum hosted by the commission because it only addressed voluntary measures for CSR.

The NGOs said the approach adopted by the commission is "unpromising and misguided."

"If European companies do not respect human rights and environmental interests in other parts of the world, we need to ensure that affected people can find justice and hold companies accountable," said Paul de Clerck from ECCJ while calling for mandatory measures on CSR across the union.

Mr Howitt explained that his report is a "sensible middle ground" and he hopes that it will bring NGOs come back to the negotiating table.

"There is a very strong case for companies to report their social and environmental impacts on a mandatory basis. And even before this is introduced, the European Commission should be enforcing existing laws to test the transparency and credibility of current CSR initiatives," Mr Howitt said.

The report will come up for discussion in the parliament early next year.
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