中欧社会论坛 - China Europa ForumGuidelines for external reporting by state-owned companies : Sweden
Authors: Sweden ministry of Enterprise, Energy and Communications
Date: 2007
These Guidelines are an update of the Swedish 2002 Reporting Guidelines. They complement the 2002 Guidelines “with expanded and clearer requirements on information about sustainability”. They require the 55 state-owned enterprises under the administration of the Swedish Government to include sustainability information in their annual reports, and to publish, along with the Annual Report, a Sustainability Report.
The introduction of the Guidelines says (abstracts):
“The Swedish state is an important company owner in Sweden. These companies represent substantial values. Furthermore, they are ultimately the common property of the Swedish people, which requires open and professional provision of information.
The key words for the Government’s administration are openness, active ownership and good order. The overarching objective is that these companies should create value and, where applicable, comply with the societal interests.
The external reporting of the state-owned companies, which includes the annual report, interim reports, the corporate government report, the statement on internal control and the sustainability report, shall be as transparent as in listed companies…
A responsible and professional owner should, among other things, take responsibility for issues relating to sustainable development, for example ethical issues, the environment, human rights, gender equality and diversity…
According to state ownership policy, the boards of the state-owned companies are responsible for matters relating to ethical issues, the environment, human rights, gender equality and diversity…
Sustainability reporting is a tool to drive forward work with sustainable development by clear reporting and follow-up. The boards of the state-owned companies are responsible for the companies presenting sustainability reports in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)’s guidelines which, together with other financial reports, make up an integrated basis for assessment and follow-up…”
These Guidelines were adopted after the Swedish State-Owned Enterprises faced criticism on their CSR performance:
Amnesty Sweden ran a campaign arguing that the risk of human rights violations was higher in SOEs than in private enterprises;
A media report pointed out the lack of diversity in SOEs’ boards – this led to a debate in Parliament with the Minister;
Nordea, a SOE, faced a complaint of non-compliance with OECD Guidelines through the OECD Specific Instance mechanism. (the Swedish National Contact Point settled the case in 2008, stating that there was no indication of Nordea violating the OECD Guidelines)
The Guidelines: www.sweden.gov.se/content/1/c6/09/41/25/56b7ebd4.pdf