On Thursday, 11 June, our Executive Director Merei Wagenaar joined the European CSO Platform in Brussels as a speaker, alongside more than 50 Chief Sustainability Officers (CSOs) at the European Parliament to discuss the EU sustainability agenda.

Hosted by the United Nations Global Compact, the platform brought together sustainability leaders from major European companies alongside Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), representatives of the European Commission, and organisations such as the OECD, Eurosif, BusinessEurope and IndustriAll.

From our Dutch network, Raymond van Eck (Fairphone) and Sandra Swinkels (Randstad), Malin Pettersson-Beckeman (Inter-Ikea) and Ewelina Jablonska -Gryzenia (Raben Group) were among those present, alongside peers from across Europe. Together, they engaged in an open exchange on how to shape a practical and actionable EU sustainability framework.

Competitiveness and sustainability

The day opened with a high-level policy dialogue between CSOs and MEPs on responsible business conduct in Europe: its strategic value, and the policy enablers that make ambition possible. This created an honest starting point for a day of conversations about how business leadership and legislative ambition can reinforce each other.

A high level policy roundtable followed on driving ambitious corporate sustainability actions while boosting EU competitiveness. Kathleen Van Brempt (MEP), Sanda Ojiambo (ASG & CEO, UN Global Compact) and Thorsten Pinkepank (Director Corporate Sustainability Relations, BASF) each shared their perspective on navigating this dual focus. 

A panel discussion then explored the tension and collaboration between corporate ambition and policy expectations, moderated by Griet Cattaert and Ole Lund Hansen of UN Global Compact, with representatives of the European Commission.

The evolving role of the CSO

We ended the day with focused peer learning sessions on corporate strategy, policy engagement, collective action, and the evolving role of the CSO, moderated by our Executive Directors Merei Wagenaar, alongside EDs from UN Global Compact France, Italy, Spain, and Croatia.

The discussions and conversations of the day highlighted the importance of predictable, coherent policy signals that reward corporate ambition. Europe has a genuine opportunity right now, to let ambitious policy and business leadership strengthen each other.