The concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) refers not
only to the fulfillment of legal and contractual obligations,
but rather to the commitment to go beyond the mere compliance,
increasing investments in human resources. It could be defined
as “ business ethics in the social, economic and environmental
fields”.
In its communication, “For a Social Policy Agenda”,
presented in June 2000, the Commission announced its intention
of adopting a document sustaining initiatives of corporate social
responsibility. The objective was to facilitate the development
of a general framework for the exercise of corporate social responsibility
on a European level, thus completing and integrating the existing
initiatives of Member States.
The purpose of the Green Paper, published in July 2001, was
to stimulate a debate among the “players” involved
(entrepreneurs, workers, consumers, investors) on corporate social
responsibility which, with full respect of diverse national situations,
must nonetheless have the following common characteristics:
• a three-dimensional profile (within the enterprise, and
at the Community and global levels) of the concept of corporate
social responsibility;
• the voluntary nature of the rules of conduct and of the
principles of social responsibility which the social partners,
and sometimes the governments, had laid down in this regard;
• the connection between CSR and social quality –
the opportunity to make the debate on CSR part of the broader
discussion on social quality and employment;
• the value of the spread and exchange of “good practices”;
• the necessity to coordinate European Union activities
with consolidated initiatives already taken at an international
level, especially by the OECD and ILO;
• the opportunity to encourage initiatives already underway
regarding social etiquette and codes of conduct, and their visibility
to consumers.
The new communication which the Commission adopted in 2002 (“Commission
Communication on Corporate Social Responsibility – a Contribution
of Enterprises to Sustainable Development”) underlined the
importance of corporate social responsibility as a means of increasing
competitiveness and social inclusion, indicating its close connection
with the Lisbon objectives, environment protection, and policies
relating to the internal market. Three principal fields of action
are proposed in the communication:
• Increasing the awareness of CSR and its effects on productivity
and competitiveness; increasing productivity and competitiveness
through the exchange of good practices among small and medium-sized
enterprises, including their being made part of the training of
managers and workers; the objective is to make SMEs able to benefit
from the competitive and communicative advantages of CSR;
• Benchmarking of national policies on CSR to favor greater
consistency and convergence at a European level;
• refinement and coordination of CSR instruments (codes
of conduct, labels, responsible investments) which, up to the
present time, have been proposed by individual enterprises and
therefore lack uniformity.
One of the key elements in the communication was the creation
of a Forum, bringing together enterprises, social partners, institutions
and NGOs. This was the first experiment with a tri-partite approach
to business and employment problems in the Community. Finally,
CSR will be further integrated with Community policies, especially
those relating to the protection of consumers and of employment.
For Italy, the promotion of CSR is a priority ever since the
Italian Presidency (2003). A series of initiatives are underway
for the diffusion of CSR principles in the national territory.
As part of the reorganization of the Ministry of Welfare in 2004,
CSR was formally made part of a General Directorate (Family, Social
Rights, and CSR).
In May 2004 the Ministry of Welfare established a Forum of the
players involved in CSR (institutions, social partners, civil
society) for the purpose of:
• Spreading CSR culture and facilitating the exchange
of experiences and good practices;
• Promoting CSR in small and medium-sized enterprises;
• Formulating a series of shared tools, including some indicators;
• Probing analysis of CSR in the context of sustainable
development.
Another important activity of the Ministry of Welfare is the
communication campaign presented in November 2004, especially
with the production of two television ads.
The Foundation for CSR was provided for by the 2005 budget law.
Its founding members are Unioncamere (Italian Union of Chambers
of Commerce), INAIL (the National Institute for Insurance against
Work Accidents), Bocconi University, and the Ministry of Welfare.
The purpose of the Foundation is the diffusion of CSR, the realization
of research on basic themes, and the collaboration with similar
institutes in other Member States and with the European Commission.
