Undertakings: corporate social responsibility, integration of social and environment. Green Paper

The European Parliament adopted a resolution drafted by Richard HOWITT (PES, UK) on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and called for social and environmental reporting to be included alongside financial reporting requirements. (Please refer to the document dated 24/04/02.) Annual social and environmental impact assessment reports should be independently verified and include all levels of the company, and its supply chain and business partners, where appropriate. The Commission should put forward a proposal on social labelling, which should be based on criteria such as compliance with human and trade union rights, the work environment, training and development of employees, equal treatment, social and ethical consideration for employees and citizens in the surrounding community. The Commission should also consider whether it is appropriate to introduce common social and environmental labelling. On stakeholding, the EU CSR Forum is called upon to devise guidelines for wider stakeholder dialogue, drawing from the experience of companies, NGOs, trade unions, academics and governmental authorities. The resolution calls for the mainstreaming of CSR in all areas of EU competence, in particular regional and social funding where companies could play a stronger role in supporting training for socially responsible restructuring. Finally, the Commission is called upon to investigate the possibility of creating a European Ombudsman for European enterprises operating in developing countries with respect to CSR.�