On November 29-30, the European Commission (EC) organised the European Multistakeholder Forum Plenary Meeting on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Sustainable and Responsible Investment (SRI). The meeting gathered EC representatives, the private sector, investor and company associations, NGOs, trade unions and academia to discuss the future of EU CSR Policy, to be framed in the upcoming 2011 EC Communication on CSR.
One of the EU investor community representatives in the meeting was Eurosif (the European Sustainable Investment Forum), who was invited by the European Commission to provide a contribution in shaping the evolution of EU Policy on CSR.
Commissioners Michel Barnier (DG Internal Market) and László Andor (DG Employment and Social Affairs) and EC Vice-president Antonio Tajani (Industry and Entrepreneurship) all made presentations at the meeting, highlighting the European Commission’s position and interest in this area.
EU Commissioner Michel Barnier made clear during his speech that the EC is taking a close look at how Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) reporting can be improved so that all market actors are better equipped to understand these important risks when making decisions and judgments about corporate strategies.
As part of this process, on November 22 the EC launched a Consultation on Non-Financial Reporting, to which all interested parties are invited to submit responses by January 28, 2011.
Matt Christensen, Executive Director of Eurosif, was a panel speaker in the final session “CSR Policy- where next?”, and made the following recommendations to the Commission:
- Publicly listed large corporations should be mandated to disclose non-financial data on ESG issuesor explain why they do not comply.
- From an investor point of view, ESG data disclosure should be mandatory for investors, with the obligation for investors to discuss how they do or do not integrate non-financial (ESG) data into their investment practices.
- The EC should create a uniform framework on voting disclosure for investors and ensure that there is an obligation for institutional investors to communicate electronically their investment policy, including around ESG matters, to their beneficiaries on an annual basis.
- The EC should establish a Working Group to help harmonise the excellent work that has been done by existing initiatives such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), EFFAS and others in the area of ESG disclosure, with a commitment to act within a two-year time frame.
- With a view to improving ESG knowledge among market actors, the EC should be ready to support capacity building in the market so that actors are properly prepared and educated on ESG issues (i.e ESG resource centres).
The output of the 2010 European Multistakeholder Forum on CSR will be made available on the EC website.