Archived press release

MEPs Cave In To Big Business

27 March 2002

Friends of the Earth today slammed MEPs on the European Parliament's Industry Committee for rejecting a proposal forcing EU firms to report on their social and environmental performance. The Committee instead opted for a 'voluntary approach' allowing corporations to decide for themselves whether to report on these issues - even though businesses have ignored similar requests, including one made by Prime Minister Tony Blair.

The Industry Committee's rapporteur, Green MEP Caroline Lucas, called on the Commission to draft an EU Directive on “Corporate Social Responsibility” (CSR) within three years. Ms Lucas also proposed that the EU should promote CSR through public procurement and through export credit guarantee agencies. But the Committee agreed that efforts to boost CSR should remain voluntary.

Previous government attempts to persuade big business to act on these issues have largely failed. In October 2000, in a keynote address to the CBI, PM Tony Blair told business leaders:
“I am issuing a challenge, today, to all of the top 350 companies to be publishing annual environmental reports by the end of 2001". [1]

But more than three-quarters of British big business completely ignored Blair's 'challenge'. Government figures indicate that only 79 of the top 350 companies (23%) produced substantive reports on their environmental performance by the deadline, and that only 24 (7%) of the other companies in the FTSE 350 had indicated their intention to do so. Ten per cent of the remaining top 350 companies mentioned the environment in their annual reports, but in many cases it was given only a few short paragraphs [2].

Opinion polls suggest that the politicians' love of the 'voluntary approach' puts them at odds with the views of their electorates. A recent MORI poll, for example, found that 92% of the British public believe“multinational companies should meet the highest human health, animal welfare and environmental standards wherever they are operating”. The same poll also found that between 87% and 92% of people think governments should protect the environment, employment conditions and health - even when it conflicts with the interests of multinationals [3].

Craig Bennett, Corporates Campaigner for Friends of the Earth said:
When fat-cat shareholders and financial institutions are hurt by dodgy corporate dealings - as in the case of Enron - politicians rush to intervene, demanding prosecutions and tougher laws. But when it is ordinary people or the environment that suffer, politicians go for the 'voluntary approach', allowing corporations to continue with business as usual.

“Friends of the Earth wants to see mandatory environmental and social reporting. Businesses ignored Tony Blair when he challenged them to report on social and environmental issues. Just how naive must the MEPs on the European Parliament's Industry Committee be to think anything different is going to happen this time? The French Government has already introduced legislation on this - so why can't the rest of Europe?”

NOTES

[1] “Richer and Greener” - Speech by The Prime Minister, to CBI / Green Alliance Conference on the Environment, Tuesday 24th October, 2000.

[2] House of Lords written answers, 4th December 2001. Col. WA132.

[3] MORI poll conducted between 20-25th September 2001. For more information, see: www.mori.com/polls/2001/globalisation.shtml

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust