About 40 companies have already expressed interest in participating in
the new European Alliance for CSR, a loose network of businesses being
assembled by the European Commission, but it has emerged that those
taking part will have to pay for the privilege.
Although the
names of the companies have not been divulged, they are understood to
include some that have already worked with the Commission in its
multi-stakeholder forum on CSR. The creation of a European Alliance was
the single most substantive measure announced in the Commission’s
second white paper on CSR published this spring (EP7, issue 11, p1).
Three
Brussels-based business organizations – CSR Europe, a business network
of more than 60 multinational corporations; UEAPME, which represents
small businesses in Europe; and the European employers’ federation
Unice – have been chosen by the Commission to help get the alliance off
the ground and provide a secretariat.
However, as there will
be little cash support from the Commission, each of the three is likely
to charge companies for providing such services. ‘We are not a charity
and we won’t get financial support from the Commission, so we will have
to look at how to make this sustainable,’ said a source from one of the
organizations. ‘At some point we will have to get into a discussion
with companies about costs.’
The source dismissed rumours that
companies will have to join any of the three organizations before being
eligible to participate in the alliance.
MEPs will soon
consider their formal response to the second CSR white paper once they
have appointed a ‘rapporteur’ from among their members to lead the
discussions in Brussels.
Debate is expected to take place over
a six-month period and a final report will then be presented to the
Commission, which has a duty to respond to MEPs’ points, though not
necessarily to act on them.
Despite the recent progress made
on forming the European Alliance, observers anticipate that the
Commission’s profile on corporate social responsibility will begin to
fade during the coming year.
