As Parliament’s rapporteur on corporate social responsibility I wanted to make a contribution to this debate by putting the debate on Ecolabelling and EMAS, in terms of reporting by companies, into the wider context of what we are trying to do on corporate responsibility and accountability, and in particular to address the issue of whether voluntary schemes, as against statutory schemes, are the right way forward and whether we should have Europe-focused schemes or a global approach.

It is important to establish links between the Ecolabel scheme and the Small Business Act in order to facilitate matters for SMEs.

(9b) As small businesses often have more difficulty assimilating new regulations and standards, the information offices to be set up under the forthcoming Small Business Act should also be assigned the task of providing information about the Ecolabel scheme.

The opening adresses will set the scene for the Conference and outline current successful examples of business and government working together, and discussion will address possible ways forward in Member States and the Community Session I will examine three key dimensions of environmental opportunities ; improving efficiency and reducing business costs ; the growing market for environmental technology and services ; and satisfying the environmental demands of consumers and corporate consumers Session II will involve organisations acting as proxies for the public in these roles : consumer organisations, trade unions and environmental g ...[+++]roups Session III will be an opportunity to discuss with lenders and investors how environmental issues are impacting on business finance, and the wider implications for Government policies.

The objective of the guidelines, entitled "Environmental Issues in Financial Reporting", is to ensure that the accounts clearly reflect not only a company's attitude towards the environment but also the impact of environmental risks and liabilities on a company's financial position.

In addition, the document suggests a number of disclosures which could usefully be included in the annual report, such as a description of relevant environmental issues and the undertaking's response to them, the company's policy in respect of environmental protection measures and improvements made in key areas of environmental protection.