Responsible Europe

A responsible approach to business seems to be a binding asset now more than ever, in a time of crisis, when development strategies need to be reshaped.  This is why the European Commission has presented a package of measures to support responsible business and entrepreneurshi p.

The CSR initiative aims at encouraging corporate commitment to society’s well being. The Communication on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) offers a modern definition of this term which serves as a strategy that allows companies to achieve their potential. In order to increase transparency  to the payments made by the extractive  and logging industries  to governments all over the world, the Commission has proposed to introduce a system of Country-by-Country Reporting (CBCR), which should apply to EU privately-owned large companies or companies listed in the EU that are active in the oil, gas, mining or logging sectors.  CBCR is different from regular financing reporting as it presents financial information, for every country that a company operates in. As a matter of fact this reporting method will not just provide a set of information at a global level, but it will report taxes, royalties and bonuses that a multinational pays to host countries, in order to the effective companies’ financial impact in host countries.

“This package of measures is in the interest of both enterprises and of European society as whole.” Said  Commission Vice-President Antonio Tajani, responsible for enterprise and industry policy. “It reduces administrative burdens on small and medium-sized enterprises and sets the conditions for a strong, dynamic social market economy in the medium and long term.”

The package will also promote social entrepreneurship by promoting a number of actions to support its further development. It proposes ways to improve social businesses’ access to funding, measures to improve their visibility and a simplified regulatory environment. According to Internal Market Commissioner Michael Barnier: “Social business is a good example of an approach to business that is both responsible and that contributes to growth and jobs”. As a matter of fact today the social economy represents 10% of all European businesses and employs over 11 million people.