On December 20th 2010 the Plenary session of the Economic and Social Council adopted analysis entitled "Social Audit - experience and prospects for development", developed on its own initiative. The document introduces the concept of social audit, its development and practical application in Europe and the world as well as the experience in Bulgaria.

According to the ESC the issue of promoting corporate social responsibility / CSR / is crucial, because it is part of the “Europe 2020” Strategy. The Strategy indicates the need for "a new agenda for Europe that puts people and responsibility on the first place”, and CSR is defined as a key element in ensuring long-term employment and consumer confidence.

The analysis is based on the evaluation of many documents and interviews with experts and trade unions members from Bulgaria. It examines the business practice of inclusion the debate on corporate social responsibility and accountability in the social dialogue at company level.

CSR is an essential part of a global process – the social responsibility, and social audit is an instrument, which importance upgrades the usual verification of socially responsible enterprise.

“Strategy for corporate social responsibility of Republic of Bulgaria 2009-2013" was adopted and published in 2010 and an Advisory Council on CSR to the Minister of Labor and Social Policy was established. According to this document the major obstacle to its implementation is the lack of integrated, national or branch policies or strategies for CSR.

The ESC proposes that the state's role in CSR should be strengthened by creating conditions for the realization of the so-called 'social' and “green” public procurement. Social audits and reports are considered to be instruments for checking how effectively the implementation of CSR in the enterprise is.

With this analysis, the ESC highlights the need for social dialogue on CSR as an opportunity for further development of CSR and social auditing in Bulgaria. The document notes, that in the recent years a growing social dialogue is observed at European level between social partners on issues related to corporate social responsibility and its reporting.

The analysis shows that to society it is more useful CSR to be promoted jointly and integrated with industrial relations, because employers and trade unions have better information about the needs of a wider range of people and the labor market.

The role of the state is to support and stimulate the process of social dialogue on CSR issues and to actively participate in tripartite forms of industrial relations (national and branch level and regional level).