Slovakia CSR plan withers

Plans for a national strategy on corporate responsibility in Slovakia have been put on hold.

The government of the central European republic drew up a strategy last year with a view to implementation over the next five years and beyond.

It was developed as a result of a study on CSR in the country conducted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which led to the creation of a government-backed multi-stakeholder working party.

Conclusions of the working group were then developed into a strategy by the Ministry of Economy and submitted to the deputy prime minister last autumn.

Among outline plans were a revision of tax laws by 2013 to allow firms to offset the expense of CSR programmes, establishment of a corporate responsibility course for businesses led by the Ministry of Education (by 2012), and a law on mandatory CSR reporting by large companies (2018).

However, political support for the project appears to have waned, and Danica Viznerova, public-private partnership officer for the UNDP region that covers Slovakia, told EP that none of the proposals had been taken forward. ‘I hope the situation will change, but they are currently on hold,’ he said.