In October 2020, the Council of the EU adopted the amended Directive on disclosure of nonfinancial and diversity information by certain large companies and groups. Large companies with more than 500 employees will hereafter be required to disclose certain non-financial information in their annual management reports. Approximately 6000 large companies and groups across the EU will be affected.
According to the new Directive, companies concerned will need to disclose information on policies, risks and outcomes as regards environmental matters, social and
wholesale bronze bushing employee-related aspects, respect for human rights, anti-corruption and bribery issues, and diversity in their board of directors. The European Commission expects that the Directive will generate significant benefits both for individual companies and the society by increasing the awareness of managing environmental and social challenges in an effective and accountable way. It is predicted that reporting will help customers, suppliers and citizens to make informed choices and develop further relations with companies with a positive social and environmental impact.
Being an SME-dominated sector - 80% of European machine tool companies are an SME - the Directive will not affect the European machine tool industry directly. Nevertheless, machine tool builders hold a strategic place in the manufacturing value chain and supply equipment to large European companies from automotive, aerospace, construction equipment, energy generation and other sectors which are covered by the Directive. It is, therefore, expected that machine tool builders will face increasing requirements from clients to provide information and documentation as regards their business and supply chain practices, products and processes.
The European machine tool industry is a key enabling sector which underpins the competitiveness of European manufacturing thanks to the sustainable and innovative production solutions it provides to a wide array of industries. The sector is indeed globally known for its highperformance, and resource- and energy-efficient products which ensure a high level of health and safety in the workplace. In addition to individual company practices, there are already several sectoral initiatives, such as Blue Competence, that communicate companies' sustainability practices via a common platform to stakeholders.
To further prepare the sector for the forthcoming challenges, CECIMO launched the EU-funded DESIGN-MTS project in 2013. The project aims at developing a multi-stakeholder platform in the field of CSR and sustainability for the machine tool sector.
Over the past year, the project consortium has identified areas of relevance in CSR for the machine tool industry and its value chain, namely employability, demographic changes, workplace challenges, environmental sustainability and fair operating practices. The project consortium has mapped challenges and opportunities in each area and has assessed the level of awareness and best practices in the sector. The findings have been disseminated through a series of events as well as on the online project platform. A major objective of the project is to better inform SMEs as regards the fundamental concepts of CSR and related international standards, and to help them better prepare to respond to growing requirements of customers. Therefore, online training modules have recently been launched on the project website, which offer free-of-charge courses to companies and trade associations. "People", "environment" and "fair operating practices" are the core areas that courses focus on.
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