The Action Plan for CSR is based on recommendations issued by the National CSR Forum which advises and assists the German government in connection with its policy to foster corporate social responsibility.
The German government's aim with the Action Plan for CSR is to
- anchor CSR more firmly in enterprises and public bodies,
- win over even more small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) for CSR and
- increase the visibility and credibility of CSR. 

The National CSR Forum is comprised of 44 experts from trade and industry, unions, non-governmental organisations and the research community, and has advised the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs since early 2009 in connection with the development of a national CSR strategy.
The National CSR Forum has presented its recommendation report to the Federal Minister of Labour and Social Affairs. In this report, the Forum recommends that the German government develop a national plan of action for CSR in Germany and outlines concrete suggestions for it.

This Website provides information on fundamental aspects of CSR, international guidelines and tools, as well as on the areas of action and activities of the Federal Government in this context.

In 2010 CSR Europe's network of national partner organisations has updated the document "A Guide to CSR in Europe" (published in 2009), providing insight into the state of CSR and current trends and priorities in different European countries.
Page 19 in 2009 guide and page 28 in 2010 guide present CSR information :
-    Policies and legislation
-    Key Drivers
-    Actions in Environment, Supply Chain, Human Rights and Equal Opportunities
-    Main actors

The European Union presents a Website about Sustainable development in different European countries.
You can find a presentation by country with: the legal requirements, the resources and the programmes.

Created in 2000, econsense, the Forum for Sustainable Development of German Business, is the largest business-driven Forum on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability in Germany.
The primary objective of the network is to offer German business a platform to exchange and learn about CSR, to mainstream CSR in business, to strengthen stakeholder dialogue and to nurture the establishment of political and economic frameworks which provide a reliable and stimulating environment for corporate innovation and investment. econsense is working on a broad variety of topics including climate change, demographic change, supply chain management, business and biodiversity and ratings, ranking and reporting.