Bendrovių socialinė atsakomybė Lietuvos ir Europos Sąjungos teisėje ; Corporate social responsibility in lithuanian and eu law

Abstract

This master thesis examines the corporate social responsibility in the European Union, its member States and Lithuania. It should be noted that corporate social responsibility is being analyzed only in legal aspects, emphasizing company law. The aim of the master thesis is to analyze the corporate social responsibility in legal systems of European Union and Lithuania, distinguishing its essential problems. The material gathered during the research aims to assess the opportunities and perspectives of regulation of corporate social responsibility. The thesis is divided into four parts according to the issues discussed in them in order to properly disclose the essence of corporate social responsibility in European Union and Lithuania, the peculiarities of regulation and its main issues. The first part of the thesis deals with the concept of the corporate social responsibility. Initially, the term of corporate social responsibility is being analyzed to reveal its essence. This section also examines the historical development of corporate social responsibility. Finally, corporate social responsibility is examined in the context of the legal theories of the companies, revealing its binding level. The second part analyzes corporate social responsibility in the European union, which deals with legislative history and term of corporate social responsibility. Finally, there is a brief overview of the regulation and implementation of corporate social responsibility in certain member states. The third part discusses the term of corporate social responsibility, which is set in the Lithuanian legal acts, and analyses the preconditions of corporate social responsibility in Lithuanian company law. This section also discusses current practice of Supreme Court of Lithuania regarding the company's goals and fiduciary duties of the manager in order to assess the possibilities of corporate social responsibility. This part also analyzes examples of corporate social responsibility among Lithuanian companies. Finally, the fourth part examines the perspectives and opportunities of corporate social responsibility regulation. There are various self-regulatory and legislative proposals that could contribute to more effective corporate social responsibility. Conclusions and generalizations are presented at the end of the thesis.