*{Beyond Dialogue: European Businesses and NGOs [http://www.weforum.org/site/knowledgenavigator.nsf/Content/Beyond%20Dialogue%3A%20European%20Businesses%20and%20NGOs?open&topic_id=300250000&theme_id=300]

            02.07.2001

            European Economic Summit 2001}

            Session participants, who included representatives from both business and civil society, sat at five separate tables, each headed by a discussion leader. Each group talked about the opportunities and challenges posed by globalization for Europe, and how businesses and NGOs can go beyond dialogue to work together to help European integration deliver economic, as well as social benefits. Each table then proposed a collaborative project to enhance cooperation. 

            Before the discussions began, table leader E. Neville Isdell, Vice-Chairman, Coca-Cola HBC, Greece, said that one of the key obstacles to deeper cooperation between business and NGOs is the lack of trust. The corporate response to the challenge posed by civil society has largely been adversarial, Isdell explained. Another discussion leader, Rémi Parmentier, Director, Political and Science Department, Greenpeace International, Netherlands, told participants that “the private sector shouldn’t be afraid of confrontation – of ideas, perspectives, values – because out of confrontation come measurable outcomes.” Now that many in the business sector have adopted parts of the NGO agenda, there is a need for monitoring and enforcing the implementation of socially responsible corporate practices.

            After the discussion, Giampiero Alhadeff, Secretary-General, Solidar, Belgium, reported that his table agreed on the importance of developing a new philosophy of corporate leadership and building networks that include all the stakeholders in globalization. Ivan Vejvoda, Executive Director, Fund for an Open Society, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, said that participants at his table believed that a key challenge is to overcome the distrust between business and NGOs and find ways to improve education and information about best practices. Isdell said that his group identified European Union enlargement as a key opportunity and the need for enforcement of socially responsible practices as a major challenge. Parmentier said that participants at his table identified ecological agriculture and the implementation of the Kyoto protocol on global warming as possible areas where business and civil society could collaborate. Finally, Reinhard Gorenflos, Member of the Executive Board, Aral Aktiengesellschaft & Co. KG, Germany, said that members of his group agreed that the main challenge is to ensure that future generations are fully committed to the need for dialogue and exchange and aware of the benefits of corporate social responsibility and sustainable development practices. His group proposed that an interactive website be set up to promote exchange among government, business and civil society. 

            Participants called for wider dialogue with civil society in this session, concluding that globalization offers significant opportunities to deliver real human development if all the stakeholders in the process engage in meaningful, wide-ranging dialogue and exchange. At the end of the session, all the participants voted to support the idea of a website designed to facilitate communication among government, business and civil society (dubbed www.c-sdialogue.org by the table that proposed it).

            Moderator José María Figueres, Managing Director, World Economic Forum, informed participants of new initiatives launched by the Forum, including task forces on corporate governance and agricultural policy. He invited everybody to get involved.
                        *{Contributors:       Alhadeff Giampiero
                  Elshorst Hansjörg
                  Figueres José María
                  Gorenflos Reinhard
                  Isdell E. Neville
                  Parmentier Rémi
                  Pfister Lukas
                  Roddick Anita L.
                  Vejvoda Ivan}