Introduction:

According to the European Commission, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is “a concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis”. Obviously, CSR is both a management approach and a political concept that touches on business objectives as well as policy goals, and that reshapes relationships between businesses, governments and different actors of civil society. This chapter explores the political side of CSR in several respects. Firstly, it introduces CSR as a contribution to the normative societal guiding model known as sustainable development. Secondly, it explains why governments are increasingly interested in CSR, and thirdly, it shows how governments across Europe actually facilitate CSR by raising awareness of the issue, making public procurement more sustainable and fostering Socially Responsible Investment. Fourthly and finally, the chapter explores the role network governance plays in the context of CSR policies in Europe. Governments that aim to shape and facilitate CSR make use of a broad range of instruments, including legal, economic, informational, partnering and hybrid. As we will see in section III, all policy instruments used in the context of CSR (including legal and economic instruments) assume uniquely soft characteristics that lack mandatory force. Since CSR and respective public policies are both characterised by voluntary activities and partnering relationships, they seem to correspond better with the network mode of public governance than with the hierarchical or the market modes. Similarly to CSR, network governance also emphasises collaboration and partnership as key means of policy making. Alternatively, the hierarchical mode of governance relies mainly on ‘commandand- control’ through mandating authority, while the market mode of governance depends on getting the prices right. As section IV of this chapter shows in further detail, the relevance of network governance in CSR policies is surprisingly mixed.