Activities of Richard HOWITT related to 2012/2098(INI)
Plenary speeches (2)
Corporate social responsibility: accountable, transparent and responsible business behaviour and sustainable growth - Corporate social responsibility: promoting society's interests and a route to sustainable and inclusive recovery (debate)
Corporate social responsibility: accountable, transparent and responsible business behaviour and sustainable growth - Corporate social responsibility: promoting society's interests and a route to sustainable and inclusive recovery (debate)
Amendments (8)
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. CUnderlines that the current global economic crisis arose from fundamental errors with respect to transparency, accountability, responsibility and short- termism; and that the EU has a duty to ensure these lessons are learnt not simply by banks, but all businesses; commends the Commission's intention to conduct Eurobarometer surveys on trust in business; advocateconsiders that corporate social responsibility (CSR) can fully contribute to restoring lost confidence, as this is absolutely necessary for economic recovery; calls for the results to be fully debated and acted on by all stakeholders;
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Stresses that co- and self-regulation cannot be a substitute for appropriate regulation in any of the areas covered by CSR, but believes that it could underpin existing private and voluntary CSR initiatives by establishing minimum principles to ensure consistency, materiality, multi-stakeholder input and transparency; believes self-regulation must include provision for "access to remedy" in line with "pillar three" of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights;
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Rejects the notion that small businesses are less responsible than large simply because they do not have separate CSR infrastructure; believes that sensible thresholds must be established to take account of small business needs in any new CSR-related legislative proposals that come forward; nevertheless calls for European action to build on the experience of Italy through regional Chambers of Commerce and of France through its savings banks (Cordé Initiative) to build awareness and visibility for the small business contribution through clustering of small businesses by locality or sector;
Amendment 26 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Fully supports the Commission's intention to bring forward a legislative proposal on ‘non-financial disclosure’ by business; commends that this proposal is based on a wide-ranging public consultation as well as a series of workshops with relevant stakeholders warns that use of the term ‘non- financial’ should not disguise the very real financial consequences for business of social, environmental and human rights impacts; calls for an ambitious proposal which places the EU at the heart of the many current international initiatives on mandatory corporate sustainability reporting and which is fully in line with the objective of making Integrated Reporting, as currently developed by the IIRC, the global norm by the end of the decade;
Amendment 31 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Condemns corporate corruption and tax evasion; believes that corporate transparency must extend to open and accountable relations for companies inside and outside Europe; that responsible companies must take a vigorous and public stand against corruption at all levels and at all times; condemns any attempts to evade fair taxation in all countries where companies operate; and although companies have a duty to speak out on public issues of concern including human rights, their lobbying activities must themselves be fully transparent and give absolute respect to democratic principles; calls on the Commission to place new emphasis on these issues in the CSR debate under the heading ‘good governance’;
Amendment 33 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Welcomes the discussion in the Commission of the dangers of "Greenwash" and the Commission's intention to consider the possibility of some CSR as leading to misleading advertising; urges the Commission to ensure that necessary grievance mechanisms are in place to ensure that external stakeholders can challenge, including legally where necessary, misleading or false advertising and seek effective sanctions including corrections and penalties; believes such an inclusive and balanced approach will inspire confidence from all stakeholders and citizens that EU initiatives in the field of CSR are objective, fair and credible;
Amendment 35 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5b. Stringent human rights due diligence and transparency is particularly needed in ensuring supply chain responsibility, measuring sustainability footprint of European business, and combating tax avoidance and illicit money flows. The ongoing parliamentary debates over the draft EU Extractive Transparency Law for the extractive and logging industry (2011/0307(COD)), the review of the Anti- money laundering directive and the announced draft of legislation on non- financial reporting provide opportunities to improve companies' transparency towards these ends;
Amendment 41 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Stresses that the link between good corporate responsibility and good corporate governance can only be achieved if CSR is a mainstream part of the company affecting its day-to-day financial strategy; believes that the Commission should explore opportunities to ensure that CSR strategy is agreed at board level. in the company; calls on the Commission and Member States to introduce corporate stewardship codes which reflect the importance of responsibility for all in the company, and which establish the strong link between the company's environmental, social and human rights performance and its financial results;