A story from my colleague Stephen Gardner at Euro-correspondent.com on CSR in Romania and Bulgaria, originally for Ethical Corporation magazine.

For both Bulgaria and Romania, things will change. EU membership will greatly increase the pressure to conform to the practices prevalent in western Europe, and a gradual alignment can be expected. In Romania, Catalin Dimofte says, companies can look forward to a decline in corruption levels, though this will not necessarily suit everyone. "Some will find life is a lot more difficult without hefty government contracts, or with the capacity to shape state policies along vested corporate interests cut down to size."

However, Dimofte adds, "the vast majority of players will benefit from the implicit reduction in the cost of doing business and of more and fairer competition."

Eurofound's Timo Kauppinen says, "I have a very positive view that [CSR] ideas are developing quickly, though organisations are weak at the moment." Consumer pressure, with growing awareness that corrupt business can be damaging to the interests of the majority, will drive this change. There is now "some opposition to the 'admiring' of the new rich," Kauppinen says.

But no-one expects dramatic progress towards EU standards. For Catalin Dimofte, environmental standards reflect the wider situation. The "window of opportunity for polluting industries is closing," he says - but it may take decades to shut completely.

In some other recent European CSR news, check out the eGov Monitor, FAZ, Managing Information, and the Malta Independent.