CSR, which is defined by the European Commission as “companies taking responsibility for their impact on society”, is an increasingly important issue on the international agenda and is the subject of negotiations within many bodies.

These negotiations deal with environmental, social and societal issues, thus covering many areas (e.g. human rights, corruption, supply chain, transfer prices, taxation, biodiversity). They are taking place within very diverse institutions, some of which are intergovernmental (United Nations, OECD, ILO, European Union, Council of Europe, G7, G20, International Finance Corporation), others private (International Organization for Standardization, Global Reporting Initiative) and others joint (Global Compact and Principles for Responsible Investment under the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights, Kimberley Principles, etc.).

As of 2008, France began special diplomacy on this issue, with a Special Representative for Bioethics and Corporate Social Responsibility (a position currently held by Geneviève Jean-Van Rossum), the primary role of which is to actively participate in most of these negotiations. She can draw on France’s strong commitment to CSR at European and international level, and its ground-breaking work in various fields (including non-financial reporting), as well as on the CSR Platform attached to the Prime Minister.