Companies in central and eastern Europe have been accused of making
little progress on corporate responsibility in the 17 years that have
elapsed since the fall of the Berlin Wall.
A study by three church bodies concludes that ‘the whole issue of
corporate responsibility is hardly known in the region’, despite the
growth of private enterprise, the influence of western European
multinationals, and the efforts of bodies such as CSR Europe.
The report, drawn up by two Czech organizations – the Work &
Economy Research Network in the European Churches, and the Ecumenical
Academy – plus the UK-based Ecumenical Council for Corporate
Responsibility, says the region’s post-communist countries ‘have no
real social background that would be supportive of corporate social
responsibility’. It says most local businesses and investors think
little of their social and environmental responsibilities ‘compared
with securing viable investment on economic terms’. The publication
even suggests that the World Bank and the European Investment Bank,
major investors in the area, ‘lack environmental standards in some
cases’ and that their ‘openness to stakeholder dialogue or engagement
is sometimes limited’.
It adds that there is little pressure for change from the public, the
government or civil society, and as a result the responsibility
programmes of companies are often limited to sponsorship of public
events or philanthropy. There is therefore no significant dialogue or
interaction between companies and civil society.
Even companies operating in the region but based in western Europe,
where CSR is much more widespread, seem to forget about their
responsibilities when working in central and eastern Europe, the study
claims. Many companies that provide CSR training to their managers in
the most developed European countries offer no such instruction to
their central and eastern European staff.
The three bodies say an effort is needed, probably from governments,
‘to raise public awareness of the issues covered by CSR and of the need
and possibilities for engagement’. They argue that governments also
need to channel public procurement contracts only to responsible
companies and favour them with tax allowances.
However, Geoffrey Mazullo, director of the Warsaw-based Partners for
Financial Stability, which promotes governance standards in the region,
said one bright spot was the growth of non-financial reporting. ‘There
has been a significant change in corporate disclosure on environmental,
social and governance issues over the past five years,’ he told EP.
‘A small but growing number of listed companies now publish stand-alone
English-language reports, some of which comply with the GRI guidelines.
This was not the case several years ago.’
The study says that churches, which generally have significant
influence in the region, should play their part by making responsible
investments. They should also produce guidance, run training programmes
and consider establishing ethical investment banks similar to Triodos
or Oikocredit.
