EP Rapporteur wants CSR to focus more on business, less on social

On 21 January, the Social Affairs Committee in the European Parliament (see also EurActiv 4 December 2002 and EurActiv 4 July 2002) held a brief discussion on the draft report by Philip Bushill-Matthews (EPP-ED, UK) on the Commission’s follow-up Communication to the Green Paper on CSR.
The report

Welcomes the establishment of the EU Multi Stakeholder Forum on CSR;
Confirms the need to recognise the diversity of CSR approaches;
Supports the view that CSR needs to be business driven;
Demands that the Forum conclusions respect the needs and nature of SMEs;
Calls for live webcast of Round Table meetings;
Warns that the environmental and enterprise aspects of CSR should not be swamped by the social considerations;
Suggests that the Forum conclusions in 2004 be prepared by DG Enterprise in consultation with DG Employment, and not the other way around;
Highlights the importance of building trust and consensus as opposed to focusing on minimum reporting standards;
Supports the inclusion of individual businesses in Round Table discussions as opposed to inviting umbrella organisations only;
Requests that the European Parliament should be included as an actor, not just an observer, in the final Forum meeting.
MEPs made preliminary comments on the report. Some found it a bit superficial, while others indicated their intentions to make changes in the text. The deadline for amendments is 24 March, ahead of the adoption of the report in Committee on 24 April. Parliament is expected to adopt the report in May.