EU & Corporate Social Responsibility

In the EU, CSR is still a relatively new concept. The Danish Government Centre for CSR is actively participating in the debate on CSR at the European level to ensure that the policy formulation of the EU is based on the concept of strategic CSR, as well as on the international principle-based approach inherent in UN Global Compact.

The EU has an important role to facilitate the exchange of experience between member states. Also, the EU plays a central part in increasing the awareness of CSR in European businesses by keeping the question on the agenda and by actively contributing to shaping the attitudes of business leaders.

The Commission has already taken a number of initiatives in this direction, for example through the, European Alliance for CSR, CSR Europe and the European Multi-stakeholder Forum on CSR.
Furthermore, the 2008 European Competitiveness Report contains a chapter on the links between CSR and competitiveness, thus emphasizing the strategic approach to CSR.

It is important for companies to be able to base their work on a generally accepted and international definition of CSR. Since European companies operate in global markets, their CSR-policies must be based on international principles rather than national or regional definitions and approaches.

• DG Enterprise & Industry on CSR
• DG Employment and Social Affairs on CSR