Corporate Social Responsibility
As a major economic player of the aerospace and defence sector, EADS is fully aware of the impact that its activities have on the world in which it operates. Our global perspective implies that we recognise our ethical and social responsibilities towards all stakeholders and the community at large. We strive not only to comply with all legislations and regulations relevant to our business, but to follow values and principles consistent with the pride running through our Group. To this end, we are assigning management responsibilities and implementing internal systems to ensure that the highest standards become engrained in all our operations. We intend to further enhance the dialogue with our neighbours and our communities on environmental, ethical and social aspects that affect them.
Reporting on our exercise of corporate social responsibility is one of our major concerns. During 2003, a senior management working group was assembled with the objective of defining overall guidelines and their implementation. Its primary task is to identify core issues throughout the Group related to the sustainability of its model for growth, to diagnose the state of current practice, and to propose updated standards. The next step is the implementation of a management and reporting systems applicable to each of our businesses and with the Group-wide spreading of best practices.
Our spirit: Integrity
| “We are committed to defend irreproachable ethical standards in our business relations inside and outside the Company. As a leading Group listed on international stock markets, our business partners, shareholders and customers expect that we live up to highest standards with regards to integrity and professionalism.” | In May 2001, EADS adopted a Code of Ethics setting Integrity as a guiding principle of conduct, and linking lasting success to the promotion of value generating innovation. This code, one of the earliest initiatives in our integration efforts, was intended to inspire the management style of our Group. It addresses each of our stakeholders, and in particular, it places customers at the center of our attention because we believe that their satisfaction leads to the satisfaction of employees and shareholders. |
| EADS Code of Ethics – message from the CEOs |
We share the UN Global Compact vision of constructive interaction between business and society
As a global company, we share the principles of and abide by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Labour Organisation Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, and the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development. To commit further, in 2003, we became a signatory of the UN Global Compact1, which lays down nine principles in the area of human rights, labour and the environment, and we are acting to ensure that those principles are embedded in our strategies, culture and day-to-day operations. In the future, we shall be participating in Global Compact initiatives and programmes in different countries.
We act responsibly in developing and selling defence products
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| Operational qualities have enabled the CN-235 to take part in numerous humanitarian missions. It is shown here in UN colours. |
Approximately 24% of our revenues are earned from products and services connected with national sovereignty and defence – an area which demands the most careful monitoring of standards. We strictly apply all national and international regulations governing the sale and marketing of sensitive products and technologies and we abide by international export and customs regulations governing both sales and the exchange of information.
Foreign trade: we are fully committed to comply with all applicable legislation
Fighting against corruption in foreign trade is a major challenge for all international companies. To meet it, EADS is fully committed to complying with all relevant national and international legislation, including the OECD Convention of November 1997, as incorporated into the legislation of 35 countries. We have implemented a corporate policy applying to all international operations of EADS subsidiaries, intended to detect and prevent bribery and have also developed internal control systems.
This policy entails effective control of international operations, through the conduct of appropriate due diligences of business partners, regular audit and reporting mechanisms and the conduct of enhanced training sessions within all Business Units. A number of such training sessions addressing senior management teams were organised in 2003, involving external participants, such as the Central Service for Prevention of Corruption in France. Each Business Unit has appointed senior executives responsible for ensuring full compliance with the Group policy, and a Group wide International Compliance Officer with a dedicated committee (‘Companies Selection Committee’) is responsible for monitoring the implementation of such policy.
This network is monitored by EADS International which provides regular bulletins aiming at disseminating a compliance culture within the Group and alerting all concerned employees about their obligations with respect to the Group policy and the promotion of sound international business practices.
Philippe Camus, EADS CEO, made his commitment to promote women in aerospace at the Paris Airshow 2003 |
Women: a key asset for aerospace future Women constitute a large untapped potential in the aerospace industry, and we are actively working at attracting more into our pool of talent and skills. We intend that at least 20% of our annual graduate engineering intake are women and we are communicating regularly with more than 50 educational institutions to promote the aerospace industry to women. To that effect, we are focusing on policies to enable employees to balance their family and working lives, in order to create a genuine equal opportunity working environment. |
Nurturing quality and trust with employees
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| The comfort factor. The fourth instalment of ‘Industry meets University’ – a project in which EADS co-operates with German universities – came up with innovative designs for interiors |
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We expect our remarkable work force to give their best to the cause of EADS, and we want their experience to be rewarding and fulfilling; a climate of trust and mutual contribution is essential to sustain dedication and free up the creative power that underpins our rare mix of innovation and business focus.
Not only is EADS genuinely European, it is present in 30 countries. Dealing daily with vastly different rules in the jurisdictions where we operate, we draw from local best practice to disseminate top standards and solutions across the company; for example, our site in Munich is currently implementing measures relating to flexibility, work schedules and return from long leave that exist in France or in Spain, benefiting employee quality of life and satisfying company objectives.
As suits the key asset of our Company, the responsibility of managing human resources lies with a member of the Executive Committee.
We have close relations with the organisations and unions representing EADS employees working together to minimise the social impact of the recent downturn – for example, by negotiating flexible working practices to avoid layoffs. For instance, the ‘+3 Accounts’ system exemplifies the cooperative approach adopted by management and the Corporate Works Council to develop a modern capacity management solution benefiting Airbus employees in Germany. For each employee, a Working-Time Account and a Reserve Account track working hours in excess of contractually agreed working time, and deductions made to accommodate individual needs or to manage short and medium-term capacity problems. A Lifelong Working Time Account translates working hours into interest bearing funds, and withdrawals therefrom can be used as ‘early retirement’ compensation, providing additional flexibility.
The European Works Council: A transnational cooperative approach for promoting social dialogueOn 23rd October 2000, the management and employee representatives from the unions and works council operating within EADS in France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom signed an agreement for the establishment of the European Works Council (EWC). The purpose was to jump-start EADS’ integration by fostering a common vision and understanding while building on institutions provided by law in our member countries. This extremely innovative agreement encapsulates the will of EADS to maintain a proactive and fluid dialogue with its employee representatives. National Committees in France, Germany, Spain and the UK engage in the discussion of national matters under the subsidiarity principle. The 16 members Council also comprises a European Economic Committee. The latter reviews financial performance and results, with CEO attendance twice yearly to spell-out developments of corporate strategy. European sub committees replicate the EWC model for certain business entities, such as those already existing at Airbus and Eurocopter. In 2003, representatives of Space and of Defence and Security Systems approved the creation of such committees. |
Health and safety
Health and safety policies and practice have in the past been dealt with at site and Business Unit level. Examples of initiatives taken include: risk prevention plans for site-subcontractors (e.g. EADS Sogerma Services) in addition to the protection measures for EADS staff; the extension of the company health insurance fund in Germany; a ‘Health and Work’ project at Military Aircraft in cooperation with ETH Zurich for which we received the European Award for Occupational Medicine; and the sponsorship of sports activities, fitness and health centres and local company sports facilities. More recently, we began establishing guidelines to ensure the exchange of best practice and to bring standards across the Group up to a common level.
Supporting people suffering from handicaps is another important social task within EADS. In the context of the European Year for People with Disabilities, EADS Deutschland has committed to an agreement in favour of equal opportunities for all employees and against discrimination and social exclusion of handicapped persons: initiatives include improvement of working place design and accessibility, working time adaptability and preferential recruitment of handicapped people with equal qualification.
Personal career development
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| 5th EADS Welcome day. 400 recently recruited young graduates meet the top management in Broughton, UK |
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EADS recruits around 2,000 young graduates every year, specialising primarily in aerospace engineering, electronic engineering, information technology and economics or business studies. We focus on life-long learning – from specific technical qualification courses up to advanced management training in cooperation with international leading business schools. Further on, divisions’ training departments and the EADS Corporate Business Academy offer a huge spectrum of professional training opportunities, as well as a forum for creative exchanges and the sharing of experience.
Management Development is one of the manager’s key tasks. In order to support this we have introduced a Management Assessment & Potential System which includes evaluation tools based on expected leadership competencies, and processes that help employees to review individual potential and to plan individual career development options.
Continuous improvement of processes and products drives customer satisfaction
Our most important obligations to our customers and suppliers relate to the quality of our products in operation and of our services. Quality is the realm of a network of Quality Vice Presidents representing all Business Units and reporting to the EADS VP for Quality. The network meets four times a year to issue and manage policies and guidelines applicable across the Group and to identify and spread best practices between Units.
The EADS quality policy provides a general framework for all Business Units to develop a proprietary comprehensive quality strategy, policy and improvement actions with regards to customer and employee satisfaction, partners and suppliers integration, integrating social, safety and environmental aspects.
All Business Units have been instructed to achieve quality systems certification under the ISO 9000/EN 9100 standards and we expect to achieve this result by end of 2004.
Fostering a mutually beneficial relation with our suppliers
The EADS supplier base represents a high proportion of the value-added in our products. Therefore EADS endeavours to deliver competitive advantage by winning, integrating and developing the world’s best suppliers.
Aside quality specifications, the EADS Sourcing network sets targets to our supplier base not only on operational criteria such as price development or delivery performance, but also on the way to manage risks deriving from end-customer and market requirements borne by each EADS Business Unit. Enhanced opportunity and risk sharing allow to systematically flow down each Business Unit end-customer market related set of business characteristics to the supply base in a fair and balanced way. This formal set of targets and rules is part of the Procurement Policy.
EADS Procurement Policy provides guidelines and principles to EADS suppliers so that they understand and implement EADS standards and requirements across all levels of the supply chain to improve performances and to share business responsibilities. In the frame of the Procurement Policy, EADS expects from its supply base community to follow, cascade, and provide evidence of the application of practices such as safety, legal, ethical, social and environmental responsibilities. At the heart of EADS Sourcing Strategy principles is the quest for responsible and solid suppliers.
We strive to improve environmental impacts in all phases of any of our product’s life
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| Protecting the environment. Development of the laser welding process for aluminium materials to replace conventional machining and riveting technology, which weakens materials and produces metal waste |
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As stated in last year’s report, we are fully conscious that our business interacts with the environment. Traditionally, management of environmental aspects of our operations is the responsibility of our subsidiaries and sites which ensure compliance with the laws and regulations of the countries in which they operate. Each of our businesses is strictly controlled and audited by authorities, with respect to manufacturing processes certification. A number of Business Units have implemented Environmental Management Systems based on ISO 14001 standards or on EMAS (Eco-Management and Audit Scheme).
Our Business Units have taken into account environmental criteria in all phases of any of our products’ life cycles, from conception and design, manufacturing and product support. Nevertheless, EADS is embarking on ways to better assess integrated risks and to provide employees and the public with better comprehensive information on environmental protection issues.
EADS is committed to continuous improvement of its environmental impact, beyond the simple fulfilment of legal obligations. For example, the European NH90 military helicopter programme specifies that every underlying chemical within each of its components has to be identified in order to limit environmental consequences and risks in use.
Airbus too is strongly committed to environmental standards when developing aircraft. It upholds the standards mandated by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) on noise reduction and emissions. Airbus’ awareness of environmental concerns has been recognised in all countries where it has industrial sites with different awards. Specific research programmes – some co-financed by the European Commission – are targeted at improving the aerodynamics of future aircraft to reduce drag, fuel consumption and noise.
In 2003, the Military Aircraft Business Unit received the ‘Environment Certificate’ recognising compliance and good practice with respect to environmental protection. Several initiatives to reduce emissions, including the use of virtual flight testing simulation techniques (which decreases the number of test flights), the replacement of fuel-oil by natural gas for heating (which limits sulphur derivatives, solid waste, CO (carbon monoxide), and other emissions) and the use of renewable energy sources (like solar panels for water heating) were recognised through this award.
In the Military Transport Aircraft Division, besides replacing fuels with cleaner ones and using renewable energy for water heating, we are controlling energy losses and using HFCs (hydrofluorocarbons) to replace CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) in cold-chambers and air-conditioning systems. We are also eliminating the use of materials containing asbestos and making use of selective waste collection to allow more efficient subsequent treatment, as well as increasing the use of recycled materials.
In Eurocopter, over the past four years, environmental action has reduced water consumption by almost 5% and energy burn by almost 9% despite an increase in turn over. Over the same period, metal pollution in water waste was virtually halved.
All in all, over €30 million are currently being spent by EADS on R&T projects specifically devoted to environmental improvements in products and processes.
Working in our communities
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| EADS as a partner of the ‘Aviation Sans Frontières’ (ASF). The ASF fleet flies medical evacuation missions to remote areas. |
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We bear responsibilities towards the communities neighbouring our operations. Various actions are taken locally, reflecting our social, educational or cultural commitments to specific local needs or concerns, such as support for Children’s Heart-centres and handicapped children, for Technical Universities related to Aeronautics and Space, and commitments to German-French Youth-Exchange as well as to theatres, museums, and orchestras.
At a more global level, EADS’ corporate sponsorship is designed to reconcile support to worthy causes with the shaping of the Group’s public image. In particular, we have committed ourselves to support the French, German and Spanish chapters of Aviation without Borders, a humanitarian organisation which provides air transport for seriously ill children or humanitarian air transport in general. For instance, ATR has signed a partnership contract making the baggage hold in new aircraft ferried for delivery to one of its customers available for freight transport. We also encourage our employees to support this endeavour and to take part in its action, providing a new meaning and dimension to the aerospace family we form together.
1 Detailed information can be found on the UN Global Compact website www.unglobalcompact.org.
