1. Institutional environment

1.1 European CSR institutional context

Since the early 2000s, French and European institutions have taken numerous initiatives in the field of CSR. Three major European milestones are highlighted here: the 2001 Green Paper and the 2006 and 2011 Communications.

• The European Commission's Green Paper defines the basic principles of corporate social responsibility: "By asserting their social responsibility and voluntarily entering into commitments that go beyond the regulatory and conventional requirements with which they must comply in any case, companies strive to raise the standards of social development, environmental protection and respect for fundamental rights"