On 26 October 2011, the European Commission presented the new definition of CSR - Corporate Social Responsibility - “the responsibility of enterprises for their impacts on society”. This definition is consistent with guidelines such as the ISO 26000 guidance for social responsibility, the UN Global Compact and the OECD Guidelines.


The most important characteristics of the new definition of CSR are the following:

> Recognition of the importance of business strategies – in the long term, corporate social responsibility may contribute to the viability of success and competitiveness when fully integrated into the business strategy;

> Development of the concept of shared value – corporate social responsibility helps enterprises create a return for their shareholders by creating value for other stakeholders and society at large;

> Explicit recognition of human rights and ethical considerations, as well as social, environmental and consumer concerns – corporate social responsibility includes actions by companies over and above their legal obligations towards society and the environment.


The new policy sets out an Action Plan up to 2014 aimed at creating favourable conditions for sustained growth in a more responsible corporate sector that fosters achievement of the goals included in the European Strategy.