EU Communication on “Implementing the partnership for growth and job: making Europe a pole of excellence on corporate social responsibility”
The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is the possibility for a company to integrate social and environmental concerns in its business operations and in its interaction with its stakeholders on a voluntary basis. Since CSR is a business strategy, it is connected to competitive levers and not to legal requirements. Imposing a solution adjustable to all cases means facing problematic issues connected to both realization and operation. Nonetheless, ABI believes that a voluntary approach cannot coincide with lack of accountability, because confrontation and quality of relations that banks develop with their own contacts are the key elements characterizing corporate social responsibility of banks themselves.
Content
The European Commission published, in 2006, a Communication to find the ways to give greater political visibility to CSR, to acknowledge what European enterprises do in this field and to encourage them to go further. One of the main proposal is to create an “European Alliance on Corporate Social Responsibility”. This would allow enterprises and the EU Commission to discuss about the manners to improve the CSR and whispered this concept all over EU business. The Alliance will be, according to EU Commission’s wishes, a “political umbrella for new or existing CSR initiatives by large companies, SMEs and their stakeholders. The Alliance should create new partnership and new opportunities for stakeholders in their efforts to promote CSR.
For promoting CSR, the Communication also suggests:
• raising the awareness and best practices exchange
• support multi-stakeholders initiatives
• cooperate with member States
• give more information to consumer and improve transparency
• enhance interdisciplinary research
• focusing on education
• support the international dimension of CSR.
ABI position
ABI fully supports the European Commission initiatives to enhance Corporate Social Responsibility aspects in the European industry. In particular underling the need to give to CSR a solid reference framework, developing discussion and education on this subject and supplying corporate banks that intend to include social responsibility strategies in their business with necessary tools.
The Italian Banking Association is involved in different discussion panels on this subject and is continuing to promote initiatives to educate banks, organizing training courses and establishing connections with all the stakeholders interested. ABI has already put in place some concrete initiatives such as microfinance projects and “bankarisation of migrants”. To give a new kick off to Corporate social responsibility it is vital to reactivate the European multi-stakeholders platform, allowing all the parties involved to sit together around a table and discuss on possible common actions.
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Next steps
Since 2006, the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility has done many steps forwards. This has been possible thanks to on going meeting, exchange of best practices between member states and business community and several conferences on the subject.
The last one was in December 2007, in Brussels. It was the occasion to underline the achievement on this field in Europe and to set the possible future initiatives.