ter Haar, Beryl; Kun, Attila --- "The EU's CSR policy in a global and national context" [2019] ELECD 1615; in Bellace, R. Janice; ter Haar, Beryl (eds), "Research Handbook on Labour, Business and Human Rights Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019) 439

Book Title: Research Handbook on Labour, Business and Human Rights Law

Editor(s): Bellace, R. Janice; ter Haar, Beryl

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Section: Chapter 23

Section Title: The EU’s CSR policy in a global and national context

Author(s): ter Haar, Beryl; Kun, Attila

Number of pages: 27

Abstract/Description:

A study of the EU’s CSR policies is interesting for various reasons, among which its unique approach on businesses as ‘a legal institution designed to resolve collective action problems between stakeholders and to serve as a repository of collectively held rights’ (Carse and Njoya, 2017). While the EU incorporates global developments, such as the ILO’s tripartite declaration on MNEs, the OECD Guidelines, and the UN’s Guiding Principles, it has also created its own dynamic of CSR policy. Furthermore, we explore developments on CSR within some new and some old Member States. More generally, we analyse how the EU interacts with global initiatives as well as national CSR initiatives (vertical CSR governance) and we reflect on the level of norms promoted by the various governance levels and initiatives (horizontal CSR issues) with the argument that there is a need for increased consistency among various levels of the complex network of CSR – Business and Human Rights governance.