CSR Opens Political Doors: Is it Really That Simple?

A good Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) track-record is presumed to open political doors. CSR is expected to increase a firm’s visibility and reputation, which in effect can be instrumentalized to access policymakers. In this article I argue, however, that this relationship is not linear. It is dependent upon three variables: first, CSR needs to be integrated into business products, processes and policies. Second, the polity should directly deal with an aspect of sustainability and the firm needs to have gained expertise on this particular aspect. Third, CSR needs to be high on the political agenda. Focusing on the EU Commission, I conducted a total of 20 semi-structured with EU officials within the Commissioner’s Cabinets, directive generals, civil society groups, industry associations and a trade association. I complemented this data with information on which companies the Cabinet Members receive within their offices as per the EU transparency register. The findings support my initial expectation: CSR only matters if the company lives up to its sustainable promises.