Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Central Bank, the Economic and Social Committee, the Committee of the Regions and the European Data Protection Supervisor – ‘Responsible Businesses’ package

The "Responsible businesses" package sets out two objectives:

- to create an economic environment which is more conducive to creation and innovation, and which boosts confidence in the business world by simplifying the administrative burdens and obstacles which weigh in particular on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), thereby allowing them to develop and achieve their growth potential. In particular, this involves fine-tuning the rules on the transparency of accounts and business activities. This could reduce the administrative costs by 2.3 billion euros;

- to articulate the Commission's vision and projects for responsible, social entrepreneurship in society. In particular, this involves rethinking the role of businesses in society and the environment of entrepreneurs who come up with projects which are innovative and economically viable and have a strong social impact.

Related documents:

- Communication from the Commission - A renewed EU strategy 2011-14 for Corporate Social Responsibility

- Communication from the Commission - Social Business Initiative: Creating a favourable climate for social enterprises, key stakeholders in the social economy and innovation

- Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2004/109/EC on the harmonisation of transparency requirements in relation to information about issuers whose securities are admitted to trading on a regulated market and Commission Directive 2007/14/EC

- Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the annual financial statements, consolidated financial statements and related reports of certain types of undertakings

EUR-Lex: COM(2011)685: Follow the progress of this document through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2011:685:FIN

European Commission: COM(2011)684: Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the annual financial statements, consolidated financial statements and related reports of certain types of undertakings http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2011:0684:FIN:EN:PDF

European Commission: COM(2011)683: Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2004/109/EC on the harmonisation of transparency requirements in relation to information about issuers whose securities are admitted to trading on a regulated market and Commission Directive 2007/14/EC http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2011:0683:FIN:EN:PDF

European Commission: COM(2011)682: Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions - Social Business Initiative: Creating a favourable climate for social enterprises, key stakeholders in the social economy and innovation http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2011:0682:FIN:EN:PDF

European Commission: COM(2011)681: Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions - A renewed EU strategy 2011-14 for corporate social responsibility http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2011:0681:FIN:EN:PDF

European Commission: SEC(2011)1279: Impact assessment http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=SEC:2011:1279:FIN:EN:PDF

European Commission: SEC(2011)1280: Summary of the impact assessment http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=SEC:2011:1280:FIN:EN:PDF

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