Definition of the European Commission

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Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

The topic of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has often been perceived in the public as simply “do good and talk about it.” To clarify what CSR really means, the European Commission published a definition in 2011 in its Communication “EU Strategy 2011–2014 for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)”, stating that it is “the responsibility of enterprises for their impacts on society.”

This responsibility can only be fully exercised if applicable laws and collective agreements between social partners are complied with. To fully meet their social responsibility, companies should be able to adopt a process that integrates social, environmental, ethical, human rights, and consumer concerns into their operations and core strategy in close cooperation with stakeholders.

In this way:

  • the creation of shared value for company owners and shareholders, as well as other stakeholders and society as a whole, is optimized;

  • any negative impacts can be identified, prevented, and mitigated [...] (Excerpt from COM (2011) 681 final: “A renewed EU Strategy 2011–2014 for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)”; European Commission, 25 October 2011, Brussels)

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