Corporate social responsibility in the EU - is legislation required?

Abstract

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a highly discussed topic which is relevant worldwide. The term CSR was first used 65 years ago in 1953 and by now more than 100 definitions exist for it. Nowadays, CSR is a research field on its own. It is linked to marketing, economics, sociology, ethics, environment protection and law. Not only corporations but also associations, the European Commission as well as media, consumers and science deal with and consider CSR. CSR is the social responsibility of corporations. Although it might sound romantic, CSR is to some extent about making the world a better place by actively reducing environmental harm and contributing to the common good for example. But CSR is also about money. Corporations have money, power and workforce. They can use this power to maximise profits, but they could achieve much if they used it (at least partly) to act in a social responsible way. But what does social responsibility mean? And are companies legally allowed to act altruistically? Is CSR the ultimate solution for all problems in the world? Probably not. But can CSR stop poverty, global warming and violation of human rights? To some extent and in individual cases, for sure. As debatable and controversial CSR is, as much uncertainty exists about it. Experts in various fields across the world are certain that CSR can make a change. For the profit-making of a company as well as for the improvement of working conditions. But there is a big discussion about how the highest level of effectiveness of CSR can be achieved. This discussion can be summarised in the following questions: Should CSR be regulated, or even legislated and by whom? If CSR is regulated should it be compulsory for all companies or for companies that reach certain thresholds, or should it be completely voluntary? And furthermore, should CSR (and its regulation) be approached on national, regional or global level? All these questions entail many further questions which cannot be mentioned in this abstract but will be discussed in this thesis. Clearly, CSR is an extremely wide topic, which means different things to different people of different professions and in different countries. This thesis captures CSR in the European Union and the question if legislation in this field is required within the EU.