EADS is a global aerospace and defence company driven by the ambition to set the standard for its industry. Setting the benchmark in the sector implies long-term value creation and recognition of the Group’s corporate social and ethical responsibility. As such, Group strategy envisages a sustainable balance between economic performance, consideration of stakeholders’ interests and respect for the environment.

EADS’ corporate social responsibility (“CSR”) approach is based on the Group’s nature, strategy and activities. For example, its long-term vision is driven by product specificities, such as their average lifecycle of over 30 years. Furthermore, the EADS Group has been created from the integration of existing businesses. The Corporate functions are there to determine guidelines and to give support to the BUs that are responsible for the day to day business. They also ensure dialogue with their direct stakeholders.

As a defence company, EADS Group specifically acknowledges its responsibility in selling defence products and providing services to nations that contribute to their security during peace time. EADS delivers products and integrated solutions pursuant to customer specification. These products have to comply with the applicable laws put in place by the responsible government (arms export laws, embargo rules and Ottawa agreements, anticorruption policy).

In 2004, EADS undertook to work towards demonstrating its corporate social responsibility in the conduct of its day-to-day business. In order to achieve this vision, EADS has established a CSR policy that identifies areas in which the whole Group aims continually to improve.

EADS’ vision is in line with internationally recognized frameworks such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Labour Organization’s Declaration and OECD Convention. EADS, as a signatory of the United Nations Global Compact, is committed to promoting, within its sphere of influence, the application of fundamental values regarding Human Rights, Labour, Environment and Anticorruption. EADS is willing to report on the Group’s success in implementing its sustainable development strategy.

The EADS CSR policy embraces its way forward on key CSR items which are common for the entire Group. These relate as far as possible to existing best practices, as well as to the EADS code of ethics (the “Code of Ethics”) which is designed to give guidance for operational managers and employees.

EADS realises that in addition to the implementation of good practices regarding CSR within its businesses, reporting on these practices is becoming more and more important for its stakeholders. EADS therefore started to report on its activities in the field of CSR in the Annual Report 2002. In the 2002 and 2003 reports mainly qualitative information was included, due to the fact that CSR practices are mostly carried out within the BUs and their respective sites and up to this point no centralized reporting procedure had been implemented. The 2002 report sets out the existing practices at Group level, whereas the 2003 report already contained a first qualitative analysis of the existing best practices amongst EADS’ BUs.

In early 2004, EADS’ top management decided to launch an extensive project in order gradually to provide more detailed and quantitative reporting on CSR at Group level, and to ensure that existing best practices in certain BUs were communicated within the Group.

In its annual report 2004, EADS published its first detailed CSR reporting, including EADS CSR policies and organisations. A number of quantitative and qualitative Key Performance Indicators (“KPI”), based upon the Global Reporting Initiative (“GRI”), the Global Compact principles and the French Nouvelles Régulations Économiques and tailored to EADS’ business were defined for the 2004 report. These KPIs were not included in full in the 2004 report, as EADS chose an incremental approach, which envisaged adding KPIs every year to EADS’ publications, as data became available and its quality could be controlled. This 2005 report thus incorporates additional KPIs.