The EU started work on the development of a political concept to promote corporate social responsibility (CSR) in 2000. Neither this process nor the ongoing international research into CSR have attracted much attention in Germany so far, but this now seems likely to change, given the growing momentum of the EU process and the increasingly international orientation of
many German companies. The research project "Significance of the international debate on CSR for sustainability and the resulting requirements for companies and, in particular, corporate reporting" was initiated to examine the issues related to CSR in the context of Germany. Key research questions included the nature of the relationship between CSR and sustainable management, how CSR, Corporate Citizenship (CC) and sustainable management can be distinguished, and whether the development of the CSR process entails any new obligations for companies.