The proposal, drafted by Industry and Enterprise Commissioner Günter Verheugen and heavily influenced by businesss, is geared solely towards improving the competitiveness of the industry instead of addressing how to tackle the negative impacts of business on the environment and society. The communication announces the launch of a new European Alliance for CSR, which aims to bring together European enterprises, but the alliance is purely cosmetic as there are no commitments to CSR standards or principles required whatsoever.
This paper outlines the perspective of the European Coalition for Corporate Justice (ECCJ) on recent CSR policy developments at the EU level.