The Sustainable Enterprise : The Multi-Fiduciary Perspective to the EU Sustainability Strategy

This essay tries to describe, via the concept of enlarged fiduciary proviso, the contribution of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to the implementation of the EU Sustainability Strategy. Through the concept of sustainability, a concern for the welfare of future generations of stakeholders is introduced in the enterprise's decisional processes. As such, sustainability can be framed within Corporate Responsibility, defined here as a governance framework that extends fiduciary protection from a mono-stakeholder perspective, in which the sole relevant constituency for the design of corporate-policy is the shareholders', to a multi-stakeholder perspective, in which legitimate claims are held by a variety of constituencies, possibly operating at different times. Moreover, this essay tries to establish a bridge between the concept of sustainability and a Social Contract account of the business enterprise. The Social Contract of the stakeholders, an ideal reference point for corporate policy-makers, is formed behind a veil of ignorance, resulting in an agreement that is both impartial and nonhistorical