CROSS-BORDER SOCIAL DIALOGUE AND AGREEMENTS: An ...

Chapter 5
Legal dimensions of international
framework agreements in the field
of corporate social responsibility
André Sobczak 1
Introduction
ince 2000, an increasing number of international framework
Sagreements (IFAs) have been negotiated in the field of corporate
social responsibility (CSR) between multinational companies —
mainly those having headquarters Europe — and international trade
union federations (ITUFs). 2 The development of this form of regulation,
aiming to define labour standards for a company’s workers, its subsidiaries
and sometimes its subcontractors, is facilitated by two converging
elements. On the one hand, companies intend to increase the legitimacy
and credibility of their strategies in the realm of CSR by
transforming their unilateral commitments into negotiated texts and
strategies. On the other, trade unions recognize that such negotiated
strategies may complement the existing national and international instruments
of social regulation, instruments that are inadequate to overcome
the challenges of globalization (Sobczak, 2006).
IFAs differ from other CSR instruments, particularly from codes of
conduct adopted unilaterally by the management of a company (Sobczak,
1
Audencia Nantes School of Management, Centre for Global Responsibility. An earlier draft of this
chapter was published in Relations Industrielles / Industrial Relations, 2007, Vol. 62, No. 3, 466-491.
2
For a historical approach, see Descolonges (2006).
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