ABSTRACT
The author explores European policies on corporate social responsibility (CSR), which has been evolving for more than a decade now. In 2001 the European Commission issued a Green Paper on CSR, which 'provided all interested parties with a platform for further discussion with the goal of policy generation in the CSR area in Europe'. After a year of consultation, the White Paper — entitled 'CSR — A business contribution to sustainable development' — was released, and represented the official policy intention of the European Commission in the field of CSR. In May 2010, the author was invited to make a presentation on CSR in Brussels to the EU High Level Group (HLG), comprising 27 Member State representatives. The topic of his presentation was 'CSR and the global financial crisis', and it gave him a fantastic opportunity to talk with some of the people helping to shape the EU agenda.
