The Catalytic Role of the Dutch Social and Economic Council
In the Netherlands a catalytic role in the debate about corporate social responsibil- ity has been played by the Dutch Social and Economic Council (SER). This influ- ential advisory body of the Dutch government in which employers’ organisations, trade-unions and independent members participate, published the advisory report
“Corporate Social Responsibility – A Dutch Approach” in December 2000 (SER, 2001). This report was written at the request of the Ministry of Economic Affairs after discussions in Dutch Parliament about the way in which the Dutch govern- ment dealt with the issue of corporate social responsibility. In its report the SER adopted a general approach to the concept of corporate social responsibility and highlighted certain potential applications in a number of policy areas. The SER states that corporate social responsibility encompasses the core business of any
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company. In the SER’s view the “social” activities of a firm are an inseparable element of corporate policy, so that the distinction between core business and non- core business is irrelevant.
The SER feels there are two key elements that “dictate whether one can rightly refer to socially responsible business in this day and age:
x consciously targeting business activities towards value creation on three levels – Profit, People, Planet – and hence contributing to society’s pros- perity in the longer term;
x maintaining a relationship with the various stakeholders which is based on transparency and dialogue and which responds to the legitimate de- mands of society”.
Response of the Dutch Government
In response to this SER advice the government issued in March 2001 a document under the title “Corporate Social Responsibility: the Government perspective”. In this document the government endorsed the main lines of the SER advice and promised to actively support the further penetration of corporate social responsi- bility. For example, it agreed to the re-vitalisation of the National Contact Point for Multinational Enterprises. This inter-ministerial body had been established earlier in order to implement the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, first issued in the 1980s. These guidelines reflect the joint expectations of the gov- ernments of the OECD member countries with respect to the social conduct of multinational corporations. To enhance a properly functioning Dutch NCP this body should provide information and advice about the OECD guidelines and also explain to industry their correct interpretation.
Next, the government proposed to set up a knowledge and information centre for corporate social responsibility, to be used by industry. And finally, the govern- ment decided to ask the Council for Annual Reporting to recommend how the re- porting of companies about corporate social responsibility can be improved. This led to the revision of the guideline 400 (as part of the Guidelines for Annual Re- porting) and a document to assist companies in reporting on corporate social re- sponsibility (Council for Annual Reporting, 2003a, 2003b).
The government proposals mentioned above were approved by the Parliament and then put into practice. One issue remained unresolved: whether or not it was desir- able to make reporting on corporate social responsibility compulsory. A plea was made by Members of Parliament from the Social Democratic Party and Green Left to introduce an obligatory reporting system for internationally operating compa- nies. However, their motion did not succeed.
92 Jacqueline Cramer
In response to the initiatives taken by the national government, local governments also became interested in the issue of corporate social responsibility. Both town and provincial authorities began to stimulate corporate social responsibility in in- dustry.
Response of Industry
To monitor the progress made within industry with respect to corporate social re- sponsibility, the Ministry of Economic Affairs carried out a study among 300 SMEs and larger companies in 2003 (Ministry of Economic Affairs, 2003). The main conclusions were the following:
x 72 % of the respondents tells that they assume corporate social responsi- bility but only 18 % meets the criteria for being socially responsible set in advance by the researchers
x About one third of the companies importing from or investing in develop- ing countries is familiar with the OECD Guidelines
x 50 % of the companies has a specific training and educational policy for their employees
x One out of five companies imposes several requirements on their suppliers x About 44 % of the larger companies reports about corporate social re-
sponsibility, while this is hardly the case for SMEs.
From these results it becomes clear that the implementation of corporate social responsibility is still in an early stage. Particularly the larger, multinational com- panies have started to put in place policies and measures and publish sustainability reports. The external pressure on those companies is higher than on SMEs due to their greater public exposure and the risk of reputation damage.
However, what we do see, is a growing interest of Dutch companies to join initia- tives that aim to promote corporate social responsibility. For instance, companies joined organisations like the Dutch branch of CSR Europe (called Business in So- ciety) and the Social Venture Network. Moreover, they exchange views about the issue within their sector and employers’ organisations. And finally, they partici- pate in programmes that focus on the implementation of corporate social responsi- bility in practice. An example of the latter is the programme “From Financial to Sustainable Profit” coordinated by the National Initiative for Sustainable Devel- opment in which 19 large companies and SMEs participated from May 2000 – December 2002. This programme aimed to encourage the participating companies to integrate corporate social responsibility into their day-to-day working practices and communication strategies (Cramer, 2003). As a follow-up of this programme a new two-year programme “Corporate Social Responsibility in an International Context” has been set up in early 2003 together with 21 other companies.
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