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Corporate Social Responsibility

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Corporate Social Responsibility DIRECTORATE GENERAL FOR INTERNAL POLICIES THEMATIC DEPARTMENT C: CITIZENS’ RIGHTS AND CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS LEGAL AFFAIRS Corporate Social Responsibility Identifying what initiatives and instruments at EU level could enhance legal certainty in the field of corporate social responsibility Abstract After an analysis of the applicable law, it appears that the ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’ (CSR) approach as it is developing in the European Union calls for proposals for modifying substantive law. In addition to the existing texts, it may also be asked whether a law on CSR might not be enacted in order to protect corporate values and secure new markets relating to the emergence of the sustainable business. Once these values, supported by CSR law, are adopted by a corporate governance system, CSR may even allow the creation of a new type of intangible asset. PE462.464 EN Policy Department C - Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs ____________________________________________________________________________________________ This document was requested by the European Parliament, Legal Affairs Committee (JURI). AUTHOR Mr Jean-Philippe Dom, Professor of Law ([email protected]) PROJECT MANAGER: JEANTETASSOCIES AARPI, Law Firm IN COLLABORATION WITH: Mr Philippe Portier, Member of the Paris and New York Bars ([email protected]) Ms Catherine Cathiard, Member of the Paris Bar ([email protected]) Ms Sylvie Le Damany, Member of the Paris Bar ([email protected]) Mr Francis Collin, Member of the Paris Bar ([email protected]) Ms Nicole Goulard, Member of the Paris Bar ([email protected]) Mr Thierry Lauriol, Member of the Paris Bar ([email protected]) Mr Frank Martin-Laprade, Member of the Paris Bar ([email protected]) Mr Yann Paclot, Professor of Law ([email protected]) RESPONSIBLE ADMINISTRATOR Ms Danaï PAPADOPOULOU Policy Department C - Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs European Parliament B-1047 Brussels E-mail: [email protected] LINGUISTIC VERSIONS Original: FR Translation: EN ABOUT THE EDITOR To contact the Policy Department or to subscribe to its monthly newsletter, please write to: [email protected] European Parliament, June 2012 © European Union, 2012 This document is available on the Internet at: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/studies DISCLAIMER The opinions expressed in this document are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position of the European Parliament. Reproduction and translation for non-commercial purposes are authorised, provided the source is acknowledged anthe publisher is given prior notice and sent a copy. 2 Corporate Social Responisibility _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CONTENTS LIST OF ACRONYMS 6 LIST OF TABLES 7 LIST OF MAPS 7 LIST OF OUTLINES 7 GLOSSARY OF TERMS 8 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 12 INTRODUCTION 19 1. POSITIVE CSR LAW 29 1.1. FEDERATIVE INITIATIVES 29 1.1.1. THE ELEMENTS OF AN INTERNATIONAL SOFT LAW 30 1.1.1.1. Definition of principles that companies can adopt 31 A) UN: the Global Compact 31 B) The OECD and responsible behaviour by companies 34 C) The ILO Tripartite declaration of principles concerning multinational enterprises and social policy 37 1.1.1.2. Indicators of respect for the principles adopted by companies 38 A) Global Reporting Initiative 38 B) ISO standards 39 1.1.2. EUROPEAN UNION LAW 43 1.1.2.1. The presence of diligence obligations inherent to CSR in certain special texts 43 A) Directives relating to CSR standards 43 B) Summary: the main CSR obligations in the Directives studied 51 1.1.2.2. Towards EU CSR law 53 A) The emergence of EU CSR law 53 B) Communications, opinions and recommendations: the seeds of CSR law 55 1.2. ISOLATED INITIATIVES 64 1.2.1.1. Germany (orange list) 69 1.2.1.2. Denmark (green list) 72 1.2.1.3. Spain (green list) 75 1.2.1.4. France (green list) 78 A) A passion for CSR 78 3 Policy Department C - Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs ____________________________________________________________________________________________ B) CSR law 80 1.2.1.5. United Kingdom (green list) 85 1.2.1.6. Comparative conclusion on the initiatives taken by Member States 87 1.2.2. NORMATIVE PRACTICES 88 1.2.2.1. Self-regulation of companies 88 A) Governance devoted to CSR 90 B) Documentation devoted to defending values 92 1.2.2.2. The activity of non-financial rating agencies and Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) 98 2. RECOMMENDATIONS 104 2.1. DEVELOPING CSR LAW 104 2.1.1. REGULATION OF INSTITUTIONS 105 2.1.1.1. Communication in the area of CSR 105 2.1.1.2 Public CSR policies of local authorities and public enterprises 108 A) Public enterprises and CSR 108 B) Public markets and CSR 111 2.1.2. REGULATION OF SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE ENTERPRISES 113 2.1.2.1. Conduct 113 2.1.2.2. Transparency 115 A) Ratione personae 116 B) Ratione materiae 119 2.1.2.3. Responsibilities 121 2.1.3. REGULATION OF CSR MARKETS 123 2.1.3.1. The information market 124 A) Legitimacy of extra-financial rating agencies 124 B) Independence of extra-financial rating agencies 125 2.1.2.3. The SRI market 126 2.2. TOWARDS A ‘SUSTAINABLE ENTERPRISE’ LAW 127 2.2.1. DEFENDING THE VALUES OF THE SUSTAINABLE ENTERPRISE THROUGH ITS GOVERNANCE 128 2.2.1.1. Corporate governance and institutionalisation 129 2.2.1.2 Governance and the longevity of the company 130 2.2.2. ENHANCING THE VALUE OF THE SUSTAINABLE ENTERPRISE THROUGH ITS GOVERNANCE 131 CONCLUSION 132 4 Corporate Social Responisibility _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS 134 REFERENCES 139 LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS 145 ANNEX 149 5 Policy Department C - Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs ____________________________________________________________________________________________ LIST OF ACRONYMS ECHR European Court of Human Rights EMAS The EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme ESG Criteria for analysis of the environmental, social and corporate governance policies (ESG criteria) GRI Global Reporting Initiative IFAC International Federation of Accountants SRI Socially Responsible Investment OECD Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development ILO International Labour Organisation NGO Non-Governmental Organisation UN United Nations NCP National Contact Point (in accordance with the OECD guidelines) SMEs Small and medium-sized enterprises PRI UN Principles for Responsible Investment CSR Corporate Social Responsibility EU European Union 6 Corporate Social Responisibility _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ LIST OF TABLES Table 1: GRI indicators 39 Table 2: France, Implementing Decree of 26 April 2012, social information 82 Table 3: France, Implementing Decree of 26 April 2012, environmental information 83 Table 4: France, Implementing decree of 26 April 2012, information on societal commitments to sustainable development 83 Table 5: France, Implementing Decree of 26 April 2012, social information in listed companies 84 Table 6: France, Implementing Decree of 26 April 2012, environmental information in listed companies 84 Table7: France, Implementing decree of 26 April 2012, information on societal commitments to sustainable development in listed companies 84 Table 8: Guidance on making a better response to the CSR questionnaire 96 LIST OF MAPS Map 1: CSR implementation in the European Union 66 The map in this study has been created by its author using the blank world map provided on http://www.histgeo.ac-aix-marseille.fr LIST OF OUTLINES Figure 1: Resource use, according to COM(2011)571 61 Figure 2: Virtuous circle of CSR 103 7 Policy Department C - Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs ____________________________________________________________________________________________ GLOSSARY OF TERMS Actionnaire Shareholder Personne ou entité détenant des actions. Person or entity owning shares. Ad nutum Ad nutum Expression caractérisant le droit de Expression which characterises the right to retirer les pouvoirs qui ont été confiés à withdraw the powers given to a board un mandataire social sans avoir à justifier member without having to justify the des motifs de ce retrait, ni respecter un reasons and without giving advance notice. préavis. Code de Corporate Ensemble de recommandations relatives Set of recommendations, providing good gouvernance governance aux bonnes pratiques concernant les practices regarding the balance of powers d'entreprise code équilibres de pouvoirs des organes and controls among corporate bodies, sociaux, édictées par des organismes enacted by public or private bodies. publics ou privés. Conflict of Conflict of Situation dans laquelle se trouve une Situation of a person who has to choose interest interests personne qui est amenée à choisir entre between his/her own personal interest and son intérêt propre et l’intérêt supérieur the overriding interest of the company qu’elle a pour mission de défendre , en he/she shall defend, the company of which particulier celui de la société dont elle est he/she is a board member or a shareholder. mandataire social ou actionnaire. Internal control Internal control Aux termes du référentiel COSO1 According to the COSO Framework (Committee of Sponsoring Organizations (Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of of the Treadway Commission), le contrôle the Treadway Commission), internal control interne est un processus mis en œuvre
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