13. Underlines, in particular, the importance of promoting corporate social responsibility (CSR) and welcomes its inclusion in the Trade Agreement; calls on all the parties to promote best business practices related to CSR in line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the OECD Guidelines on CSR and the recent Commission Communication of 25 October 2011 on ‘a renewed EU strategy 2011-14 for Corporate Social Responsibility’ COM(2011)0681; strongly believes that higher living standards can only be achieved through active partnerships between entrepreneurs, workers, NGOs and the state, either at central, regional or ...[+++]community level; reaffirms, therefore, the importance of the involvement of all the parties that are involved, especially the governments, which must play an essential role in the effective implementation of CSR in their countries; calls on the EU and the Andean countries to work towards the global implementation of binding UN Guiding Principles on CSR;

13. Underlines, in particular, the importance of promoting corporate social responsibility (CSR) and welcomes its inclusion in the Trade Agreement; calls on all the parties to promote best business practices related to CSR in line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the OECD Guidelines on CSR and the recent Commission Communication COM(2011)0681 of 25 October 2011 on ‘a renewed EU strategy 2011-14 for Corporate Social Responsibility’; strongly believes that higher living standards can only be achieved through active partnerships between entrepreneurs, workers, NGOs and the state, either at central, regional or ...[+++]community level; reaffirms, therefore, the importance of the involvement of all the parties that are involved, especially the governments, which must play an essential role in the effective implementation of CSR in their countries; calls on the EU and the Andean countries to work towards the global implementation of binding UN Guiding Principles on CSR;

To enhance the role of design in innovation, the European Design Leadership Board has developed a set of proposals including: better access for companies to design; the promotion of design-led innovation for manufacturing systems; the promotion of design competencies; raising the profile of design in the EU research and innovation system; the wider application of design in the public sector; and the differentiation of European design at a global level.

Considering the significant role played by the European Parliament in the defence, mainstreaming and promotion of fundamental rights, it should be involved in the activities of the Agency, including the adoption of the Multiannual Framework for the Agency, and, given the exceptional nature and task of the Agency, the selection of the candidates proposed for the post of the Director of the Agency without setting a precedent for other Agencies.

34. Agrees with the Commission that the private sector and private initiatives, the formation and mobilisation of joint interest groups and global measures by various social bodies (for example NGOs) can make an important contribution to promoting good social governance; welcomes the Commission's support for the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises which set benchmarks for responsible business conduct; supports the Commission's proposal to increase implementation of the Guidelines by building references into bilateral agreements; agrees with the Commission that implementation of the Guidelines must be more rigorous and consis ...[+++]tent; calls on the Commission to continue to raise awareness of good practice, existing instruments and tools such as the OECD Guidelines;

6. Believes that, rather than developing further codes of conduct, the EU should focus on ensuring better compliance with existing codes; therefore welcomes the Commission’s intention to support the active promotion of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, in that such practices will be better implemented on a global rather than a purely EU basis; in particular, it should ensure that the National Contact Points, which supervise the implementation of the Guidelines, provide an effective mechanism for holding companies to account, and that contact points are swiftly established in the EU delegations of those countries where ...[+++]European companies operate, as provided for in the 2002 budget;