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		MEPs fight new plans for business regulation Tuesday, 12th March 2007 In a debate on Corporate Social Responsibility in the European parliament in Strasbourg this week, Conservative MEPs made a strong pitch for a voluntary approach rather than more mandatory regulation. The parliament was considering a report on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) from Labour MEP Richard Howitt. Howitt had argued for a mandatory approach, covering a wide range of areas including employment, social and environmental policy. East Midlands Conservative MEP Roger Helmer argued strongly that these policy areas were already covered by heavy, even excessive existing regulation, and that to regulate them twice-over as part of a CSR initiative would create confusion and ambiguity, and would damage European productivity and competitiveness at the very time when the EU faces new global challenges. Such legislation would impact particularly on small and medium-sized enterprises, who may lack the resources to cope with a new layer of regulation. West Midlands MEP Philip Bushill Matthews, the Conservative spokesman on Employment issues, had brokered a series of amendments with the rapporteur, making it explicit that any new EU CSR initiatives would be based on a voluntary approach, and this now seems likely to be agreed. It also has the support of the Commission. Commenting on the debate, Helmer said "We are constantly fighting a rearguard action to prevent the imposition of further damaging regulation on business. The good news is, we seem to have won this round"