The CoP stemmed from the Renewed EU strategy 2011-14 for Corporate Social Responsibility. As a follow up to a public consultation, a set of principles for better self- and co-regulation (SRCR) were developed, outlining evidence-based best practices for SRCR and guidance to help making voluntary actions more effective. The CoP was established as a pilot project into a community of stakeholders (business, academia, public and civil society organisations) wishing to discuss, improve and promote those principles.
The CoP regularly met from 2013 to 2017, exploring the role of soft law in the EU institutional and legislative set-up and exchange hands-on experiences.
The European Commission endorsed of the Principles in the May 2015 Better Regulation Package and included them in both the better regulation guidelines and toolbox, making self- and co-regulation a mainstream topic in the European Commission’s better regulation processes.
On these pages you can find the Principles (free for use) and key outputs of the CoP eight plenary meetings - programmes, registered participants, presentations and summaries of discussions, covering a wide range of policy areas - from audio-visual media services or energy efficiency, to consumer protection, intellectual property rights or responsible innovation. You also have easy access to SRCR articles, documents, existing initiatives and a news archive.