First national conference on corporate social responsibility

In July 2006, the first national conference on corporate social responsibility (CSR) was held in Bulgaria. The participants, who included the social partners, sought to underline the benefits of CSR to employers and trade unions, and at the national level. At the event, Commissioner Špidla bestowed for the first time the ‘Socially responsible company of the year’ award. Employer and trade union groups highlighted their concerns over the challenges in adopting best practice in CSR. The conference participants concluded that an appropriate legal framework could promote the development of socially responsible practices.

On 13 July 2006, the National Round Table on the Implementation of Social Standards in Bulgaria held a conference on corporate social responsibility (CSR). The conference, ‘How to integrate CSR into business’, was held under the auspices of the Minister of Labour and Social Policy, funded by the Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development and organised by the German Technical Cooperation Association (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit, GTZ). It was attended by EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, Vladimir Špidla.

The National Round Table on the Implementation of Social Standards was established in 2004 to encourage the implementation of and compliance with social standards in enterprises, initially in the textiles and clothing sector and subsequently in other economic sectors. The body consists of representatives from employer associations, trade unions, government bodies and agencies, as well as representatives from organisations and companies in the non-governmental sector.

Raising awareness of CSR

The main objective of the conference was to raise public awareness of the importance of CSR. A guiding principle in the view of all participants was to underline the benefits of CSR to all stakeholders – the state, employers, trade unions and other non-governmental organisations (NGOs), along with civil society as a whole.

Commissioner Špidla expressed his hope that the discussion would help to ease the economic transition of Bulgarian enterprises into the European Union (EU), as well as increasing their competitiveness through improved management practices and policies. Bulgaria’s Minister of Labour and Social Policy, Emilia Maslarova, shared her expectations that Bulgarian society and external businesses would have more trust in the efforts of employers to apply national labour and social policy legislation, as a result of such measures.

Another key aim of the conference was to encourage more companies to voluntarily implement the requirements of international corporate standards and social responsibility specifications.

National award for socially responsible companies

At the conference, Commissioner Špidla and Minister Maslarova presented for the first time the ‘Socially responsible company of the year’ award. The national award for socially responsible companies is an annual competition for small, medium-sized and large companies operating in Bulgaria that are willing to adopt the CSR concept with respect to their staff, business partners and the local community. The competition is organised and run by the National Round Table on the Implementation of Social Standards in conjunction with governmental institutions, including the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy (MLSP), the Bulgarian Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Promotion Agency (BSMEPA) and the General Labour Inspectorate (GLI).

The national award acknowledges and supports the efforts of enterprises that follow best practice in relation to socially responsible behaviour. Companies’ participation in the competition is voluntary, and the National Round Table makes an independent decision to determine the prizewinners. The central purpose is to identify socially responsible practices in Bulgarian companies that exceed labour legislation requirements and that are introduced voluntarily by business people, within the scope of various internal and external company dimensions.

Internal aspects of the company that are considered in the selection process include: human resource management (HRM); health and safety of working conditions; adaptation to and management of change; and impact on environment and natural resources. External factors include the local social environment, business partners, suppliers and customers, human rights and global care for the environment.

Views of social partners

During the conference, employer representatives identified the following issues (inherent in the process of EU integration) as challenges facing Bulgarian companies:

• the competitive pressure on Bulgarian companies;

• the need for greater investment in order to comply with stringent requirements for:

  • product safety;

  • environmental protection;

  • occupational health and safety;

• the new type of planning required by companies in order to adapt to the conditions of the internal EU market;

• the need for a new type of business behaviour;

• the risk of bankruptcy among companies unable to respond to the above challenges;

• the danger of losing educated and skilled workers to other countries.

The representatives of the main trade union organisations attending the conference – the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) and the Confederation of Labour Podkrepa (CL Podkrepa) – felt that problems in the employer–employee relationship were hindering the development of best practice in CSR in Bulgarian enterprises. Such problems included: a lack of information; inefficient dialogue; communication problems; a lack of empathy; an absence of trust; and a lack of motivation among staff.

Commentary

According to participants at the national conference on CSR, many factors hinder both the implementation of the European social model and the development of greater competitiveness in Bulgarian companies. The international social accountability standard, SA8000, is still not widely known in the country’s labour market. At the same time, few companies are investing in working conditions and the environment, and very often there are no environmental protection strategies in place.

The main conclusion of the conference discussions was that efforts should increasingly focus on establishing a legal framework that promotes a more appropriate environment for the development of socially responsible practices.

Dimitar Matev, Balkan Institute for Labour and Social Policy (BILSP)