The European Commission’s new proposal to review the accounting Directives 78/660/EEC and 83/349/EEC regarding disclosure of non-financial and diversity information by certain large companies and groups is counterproductive.

The very definition and essence of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been its voluntary nature. Obliging companies, through a directive,
to disclose non-financial information would go against this principle and arguably have little to do with CSR.
“Prescribing in detail the aspects that companies should include in their approach to CSR reduces the voluntary nature of CSR and provides less
flexibility for companies and thus possibly prevents them to design their own strategies in this field”, commented CEEMET’s Director
General Uwe Combüchen. “It is also quite clear that this obligation would add to the companies’ costs and will become an additional burden”, he concluded.

The key task of an enterprise is to run its core business and to follow the legal obligations linked to that. Additional administrative burdens should be avoided especially in the current economic and financial climate where the focus should indeed be on ensuring the continuing of businesses and obviously creating growth and as a consequence, more employment.
Companies’ stakeholders include above all its shareholders, employees and customers. It is part of good business practice of today to keep these stakeholder groups informed. This is self-evident and absolutely necessary for the success of the companies. Since responsible companies aiming to continue to stay in business already provide information concerning the company’s development, sustainability, performance or position, extra EU level regulation in this field indeed is counterproductive.

For more information, please contact:
Uwe Combüchen, Director General
Tel: +32 2 706 8467
E-mail: combuechen@ceemet.org
Karoliina Rasi-Hedberg, Senior Public Affairs
Advisor
Tel: +32 2 706 8472
E-mail: Karoliina.rasihedberg@ceemet.org
About CEEMET:
CEEMET is the European employers’ organisation representing the interests of the metal, engineering and technology-based
industries. Its members are national employers’ organisations and federations, representing 200 000 member companies across Europe. The vast majority of them are SMEs, providing over 13 million jobs of direct employment.