Recent European Union Initiatives & the Danish Experience

Abstract

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a concept that has developed over the last twenty years, with rapid and accelerating growth in public awareness and application during the last ten years.' Currently, it is a major concern for many companies and has become increasingly visible as front-page news in professional newsletters.2 However, it remains a field that is to a large extent unregulated, or regulated only by soft law. The purpose of this paper is to examine the latest developments in European Union (EU) policy on CSR and to present the experience of Denmark in supporting soft law targets with hard law measures. This paper is based on a presentation made on March 26, 2010, to a symposium arranged by the Indiana International & Comparative Law Review3 held at Indiana University School of Law-Indianapolis. The symposium reflected on the application of CSR in different regions and cultures across the globe.