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PARALLEL TEXTS
La Commissione interviene per rafforzare la trasparenza delle imprese sulle questioni sociali e ambientali
Inglese tratto da:
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-13-330_en.htm
Italiano tratto da:
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-13-330_it.htm
Data documento: 16-04-2013
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Commission moves to enhance business transparency on social and environmental matters
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La Commissione interviene per rafforzare la trasparenza delle imprese sulle questioni sociali e ambientali
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The European Commission has today proposed an amendment to existing accounting legislation in order to improve the transparency of certain large companies on social and environmental matters.
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La Commissione europea ha proposto oggi una modifica della normativa vigente in materia di contabilità al fine di migliorare la trasparenza di alcune grandi società sulle questioni sociali e ambientali.
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Companies concerned will need to disclose information on policies, risks and results as regards environmental matters, social and employee-related aspects, respect for human rights, anti-corruption and bribery issues, and diversity on the boards of directors.
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Le imprese interessate avranno l'obbligo di informativa sulle politiche, sui rischi e sui risultati riguardanti le questioni ambientali e sociali e quelle legate al lavoro, al rispetto dei diritti umani, alla lotta contro la corruzione e alla diversità nei consigli di amministrazione.
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Internal Market and Services Commissioner, Michel Barnier said:
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Il commissario per il Mercato interno e i servizi Michel Barnier ha dichiarato:
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“Today we are proposing important legislation on business transparency across all sectors. This is about providing useful information for companies, investors and society at large - much demanded by the investor community.
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"Oggi proponiamo un'importante normativa sulla trasparenza delle imprese in tutti i settori per fornire informazioni utili alle imprese, agli investitori e a tutta la società, come richiesto a gran voce dalla comunità degli investitori.
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Companies that already publish information on their financial and non-financial performances take a longer term perspective in their decision-making.They have lower financing costs, attract and retain talented employees, and ultimately are more successful.
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Le imprese che già pubblicano informazioni sui risultati finanziari e non finanziari adottano una prospettiva di più lungo termine nei processi decisionali, sostengono minori costi di finanziamento, attraggono e mantengono personale di talento e, infine, hanno più successo.
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This is important for Europe’s competitiveness and the creation of more jobs.
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Si tratta di aspetti importanti per la competitività dell'Europa e per la creazione di nuovi posti di lavoro.
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Best practices should become the norm.
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Occorre che le migliori pratiche diventino la regola.
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The new rules will only apply to large companies with more than 500 employees as the costs for requiring small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to apply the new rules could outweigh the benefits.”
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Le nuove norme si applicano soltanto alle grandi società con più di 500 dipendenti, perché i costi che le piccole e medie imprese (PMI) dovrebbero sostenere per ottemperare alla nuova normativa probabilmente supererebbero i benefici."
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Under the proposal, large companies with more than 500 employees would be required to disclose relevant and material environmental and social information in their annual reports.
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Secondo la proposta, le grandi società con più di 500 dipendenti avranno l'obbligo di pubblicare informazioni rilevanti e concrete in materia ambientale e sociale nelle relazioni annuali.
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The approach taken ensures administrative burdens are kept to a minimum.
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L'approccio adottato garantisce che gli oneri amministrativi siano ridotti al minimo.
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Concise information which is necessary for understanding a company’s development, performance or position would be made available rather than a fully-fledged and detailed "sustainability" report.
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Invece che una vera e propria relazione di "sostenibilità" dettagliata, si pubblicheranno informazioni sintetiche, utili a comprendere l'evoluzione, i risultati e il posizionamento dell’impresa.
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If reporting in a specific area is not relevant for a company, it would not be obliged to report but only to explain why this is the case.
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Se la pubblicazione dei dati relativi a un determinato settore non è rilevante per l’impresa, non ci sarà alcun obbligo di informativa, ma soltanto quello di motivare la scelta.
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Furthermore, disclosures may be provided at group level, rather than by each individual company within a group.
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Inoltre, è possibile pubblicare i dati a livello di gruppo, invece che per ogni singola società del gruppo.
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The proposed measure has been designed with a non-prescriptive mind-set, and leaves significant flexibility for companies to disclose relevant information in the way that they consider most useful.
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Il provvedimento proposto è stato concepito in un'ottica non prescrittiva e lascia ampia flessibilità alle imprese, che possono divulgare le informazioni più pertinenti nel modo che ritengono più utile.
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Companies may use international or national guidelines which they consider appropriate (for instance, the UN Global Compact, ISO 26000, or the German Sustainability Code).
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Le società possono avvalersi delle linee guida nazionali o internazionali che ritengono più opportune (per esempio, il Global Compact dell'ONU, l'ISO 26000 o il codice di sostenibilità tedesco).
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As regards transparency on boardroom diversity, large listed companies would be required to provide information on their diversity policy, covering age, gender, geographical diversity, and educational and professional background.
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Per quanto riguarda la trasparenza in materia di tutela della diversità nelle posizioni dirigenziali, le grandi società quotate dovranno pubblicare informazioni sulla propria politica della diversità, con dati relativi all'età, al genere, alla provenienza geografica e alle esperienze formative e professionali.
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Disclosures would set out the objectives of the policy, how it has been implemented, and results.
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Le informazioni pubblicate dovranno indicare gli obiettivi della politica, le modalità di attuazione e i risultati conseguiti.
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Companies which do not have a diversity policy would have to explain why not.
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Le società che non hanno elaborato una politica della diversità dovranno motivare questa scelta.
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This approach is in line with the general EU corporate governance framework.
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Tale approccio è conforme al quadro generale dell'Unione europea in materia di governo societario.
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Background
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Contesto
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This measure was announced by the Commission in the Single Market Act communication in April 2011 (see IP/11/469), in the Communication "A renewed strategy 2011–2014 for Corporate Social Responsibility" issued in October 2011 (see IP/11/1238), and in the Action Plan for Company Law and Corporate Governance adopted in December 2012 (see IP/12/1340).
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Questa misura è stata annunciata dalla Commissione nella comunicazione relativa all'Atto per il mercato unico nell'aprile 2011 (cfr. IP/11/469), nella comunicazione "Strategia rinnovata per il periodo 2011-2014 in materia di responsabilità sociale delle imprese" pubblicata nell'ottobre 2011 (cfr. IP/11/1238) e nel piano d’azione sul governo e sul diritto delle società adottato nel dicembre 2012 (cfr.IP/12/1340).
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The Commission engaged in a very extensive consultation with Member States, companies, investors and other stakeholders, which started with a broad public consultation in November 2010.
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La Commissione ha tenuto consultazioni molto ampie con gli Stati membri, le imprese, gli investitori e le altre parti interessate, cominciando con un'ampia consultazione pubblica nel novembre 2010.
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An Impact Assessment was concluded in 2012 where different policy options were considered with the intention of adopting a balanced proposal allowing for significant progress on useful, transparent reporting by companies, but avoiding an undue administrative burden.
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Nel 2012 è stata portata a termine la valutazione d'impatto che ha preso in considerazione le diverse possibili scelte politiche al fine di adottare una proposta equilibrata, che consenta progressi significativi in materia di pubblicazione di relazioni utili e trasparenti da parte delle imprese, senza comportare un sovraccarico amministrativo.
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Current EU legislation, in particular, the Fourth Company Law Directive on annual accounts, addresses the disclosure of non-financial information in a way that companies may choose to make public certain information on environmental, social and other aspects of their activities.
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L'attuale normativa dell'Unione europea, in particolare la quarta direttiva sul diritto societario, disciplina la pubblicazione delle informazioni non finanziarie lasciando alle imprese la facoltà di pubblicare alcune informazioni sugli aspetti ambientali, sociali e di altra natura che riguardano le loro attività.
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However, the requirements of the existing legislation have proved to be unclear and ineffective and applied in different ways in different Member States.
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Gli obblighi imposti dalla vigente normativa, tuttavia, si sono dimostrati non chiari e inefficaci, con un'applicazione difforme nei diversi Stati membri.
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Currently, fewer than 10% of the largest EU companies disclose such information regularly.
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Attualmente meno del 10% delle grandi imprese dell'UE pubblica con regolarità questo genere di informazioni.
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Over time, some Member States have introduced disclosure requirements that go beyond the Fourth Company Law Directive.
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Col tempo alcuni Stati membri hanno introdotto obblighi che vanno al di là della quarta direttiva sul diritto societario.
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For instance: the UK introduced legislation in 2006 which is now being updated; Sweden adopted legislation in 2007; Spain in 2011;
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Per esempio, la Gran Bretagna ha introdotto nel 2006 una normativa, ora in fase di aggiornamento, mentre la Svezia ha adottato una normativa nel 2007 e la Spagna nel 2011;
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Denmark amended its legislation in the same year; the latest update in France dates from May 2012.
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nello stesso anno la Danimarca ha modificato la sua normativa, mentre l'ultimo aggiornamento in Francia risale a maggio 2012.
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Costs associated with the required disclosures for large companies are commensurate with the value and usefulness of the information, and with the size and complexity of the companies.
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I costi connessi all’obbligo di informativa a carico delle società di grandi dimensioni sono commisurati al valore e all’utilità delle informazioni e alle dimensioni, all’impatto e alla complessità delle società.
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On 6 February 2013, the European Parliament adopted two resolutions (“Corporate Social Responsibility: accountable, transparent and responsible business behaviour and sustainable growth” and “Corporate Social Responsibility:
promoting society’s interests and a route to sustainable and inclusive recovery”), acknowledging the importance of company transparency on environmental and social matters.
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Il 6 febbraio 2013 il Parlamento europeo ha adottato due risoluzioni ("Responsabilità sociale delle imprese: comportamento commerciale trasparente e responsabile e crescita sostenibile" e
"Responsabilità sociale delle imprese:
promuovere gli interessi della società e un cammino verso una ripresa sostenibile e inclusiva") che riconoscono l'importanza della trasparenza delle imprese sulle questioni di natura ambientale e sociale.
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LISTEN WITH READSPEAKER
Commission moves to enhance business transparency on social and
environmental matters
The European Commission has today proposed an amendment to existing
accounting legislation in order to improve the transparency of certain large
companies on social and environmental matters.
Companies concerned will need to disclose information on policies,
risks and results as regards environmental matters, social and employee-related
aspects, respect for human rights, anti-corruption and bribery issues, and
diversity on the boards of directors.
Internal Market and Services Commissioner, Michel Barnier said:
“Today we are proposing important legislation on business transparency
across all sectors. This is about providing useful information for companies,
investors and society at large - much demanded by the investor community.
Companies that already publish information on their financial and
non-financial performances take a longer term perspective in their
decision-making.They have lower financing costs, attract and retain talented
employees, and ultimately are more successful.
This is important for Europe’s competitiveness and the creation of more
jobs.
Best practices should become the norm.
The new rules will only apply to large companies with more than 500
employees as the costs for requiring small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
to apply the new rules could outweigh the benefits.”
Under the proposal, large companies with more than 500 employees would
be required to disclose relevant and material environmental and social
information in their annual reports.
The approach taken ensures administrative burdens are kept to a
minimum.
Concise information which is necessary for understanding a company’s
development, performance or position would be made available rather than a
fully-fledged and detailed "sustainability" report.
If reporting in a specific area is not relevant for a company, it would
not be obliged to report but only to explain why this is the case.
Furthermore, disclosures may be provided at group level, rather than by
each individual company within a group.
The proposed measure has been designed with a non-prescriptive
mind-set, and leaves significant flexibility for companies to disclose relevant
information in the way that they consider most useful.
Companies may use international or national guidelines which they
consider appropriate (for instance, the UN Global Compact, ISO 26000, or the
German Sustainability Code).
As regards transparency on boardroom diversity, large listed companies
would be required to provide information on their diversity policy, covering
age, gender, geographical diversity, and educational and professional
background.
Disclosures would set out the objectives of the policy, how it has been
implemented, and results.
Companies which do not have a diversity policy would have to explain
why not.
This approach is in line with the general EU corporate governance
framework.
Background
This measure was announced by the Commission in the Single Market Act
communication in April 2011 (see IP/11/469), in the Communication "A renewed
strategy 2011–2014 for Corporate Social Responsibility" issued in October 2011
(see IP/11/1238), and in the Action Plan for Company Law and Corporate
Governance adopted in December 2012 (see IP/12/1340).
The Commission engaged in a very extensive consultation with Member
States, companies, investors and other stakeholders, which started with a broad
public consultation in November 2010.
An Impact Assessment was concluded in 2012 where different policy
options were considered with the intention of adopting a balanced proposal
allowing for significant progress on useful, transparent reporting by companies,
but avoiding an undue administrative burden.
Current EU legislation, in particular, the Fourth Company Law Directive
on annual accounts, addresses the disclosure of non-financial information in a
way that companies may choose to make public certain information on
environmental, social and other aspects of their activities.
However, the requirements of the existing legislation have proved to be
unclear and ineffective and applied in different ways in different Member
States.
Currently, fewer than 10% of the largest EU companies disclose such
information regularly.
Over time, some Member States have introduced disclosure requirements
that go beyond the Fourth Company Law Directive.
For instance: the UK introduced legislation in 2006 which is now being
updated; Sweden adopted legislation in 2007; Spain in 2011;
Denmark amended its legislation in the same year; the latest update in France
dates from May 2012.
Costs associated with the required disclosures for large companies are
commensurate with the value and usefulness of the information, and with the size
and complexity of the companies.
On 6 February 2013, the European Parliament adopted two resolutions
(“Corporate Social Responsibility: accountable, transparent and responsible
business behaviour and sustainable growth” and “Corporate Social Responsibility:
promoting society’s interests and a route to sustainable and inclusive
recovery”), acknowledging the importance of company transparency on
environmental and social matters.
|