Roundtable

Beyond Compliance: Supplier Engagement as Key Driver for Change

Time TBD | 23 October 2025

Context

With regulatory expectations on the rise, companies are stepping up their compliance efforts and increasing their demands towards their suppliers. However, although legal compliance is important, it would be a missed opportunity to stay at the level of mere compliance. That is also what is the spirit of the original UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights or the OECD Guidelines for multinational enterprises. 

A focus on compliance only also underestimates the business value of enhanced collaboration with suppliers: collaboration and engagement with suppliers does not only allow to enhance the level of responsible sourcing, e.g. through corrective action plans, but also unlocks value through innovation and more cost-efficient sourcing and production.  

CSR Europe developed an image of mature supplier engagement that entails both a coordinated and a collaborative approach.  

The coordinated approach focuses on standardised requirements and consistency in roll out towards a wide pool of suppliers. Its main added value is in risk assessment (and compliance) but it also allows – if done well – to promote sustainable business practices in the supply chain. 

A collaborative approach focuses on the co-creation and shared ownership of sustainability challenges, both for supplier and customer. It is mainly implemented with a limited number of strategic and high risk suppliers and aims to improve performance, achieve impact and contribute to the bottom-line. 

Both dimensions of supplier engagement feature in a tool, the Supplier  Engagement Maturity dashboard,   developed by CSR Europe. By co-defining sustainability goals, investing in local capacity-building, and fostering open dialogue, businesses can achieve wider impact and create resilient, adaptable supply chains.

A more mature supplier engagement delivers measurable sustainability outcomes while also enhancing supply chain resilience, innovation potential, and stakeholder alignment.

By integrating ESG considerations into procurement processes and leveraging industry-wide initiatives, companies can mitigate risks, meet regulatory expectations, and secure long-term competitive positioning.

Companies need to align internal teams, prioritize high-impact suppliers, and adopt continuous improvement practices. Cross-functional coordination, shared responsibility with suppliers, and multi-stakeholder partnerships are essential to address root causes of sustainability challenges and to scale impact across complex, global value chains. 

SPEAKERS

Stefan Crets, Executive Director, CSR Europe

Who should attend

• Procurement managers  

• CSR/Sustainability Managers  

• Ethics and Compliance teams 

• EU Policymakers 

ABOUT THE ROUNDTABLE

This roundtable will present the key learnings of CSR Europe’s  Supplier Engagement Maturity Dashboard that shows that most companies are stronger on commitments, targets and compliance checks but less strong on the collaborative engagement. This is a missed business opportunity.

In the presentations and dialogues during this roundtable we will feature best practices in supplier capacity building and engagement and explore the challenges towards a more mature supplier sustainability approach.  

You will hear from companies in automotive, chemical and energy sector how they approach Supplier Engagement and what the value is they are getting from this work. 

The Roundtable is an opportunity for each participant to the Summit to get the tool and make a first assessment of their own level of Supplier Engagement Maturity. Together the participants will share good practice and ways to overcome challenges.