“CSR” refers to an undertakings’ commitment to conduct business in a way that has a positive impact on the environment, consumers, employees, communities, stakeholders and all other members of the public sphere¹; however, its notion has no clear and accepted definition.²

Based on local surveys,³ it can be generally stated that CSR has been present in the activities of Hungarian top-tier and multinational companies only in the past 10 years. In Hungary, CSR is treated as a communication tool and considered as part of the image communication; therefore, CSR programs are supervised by the PR/marketing departments. Surveys reflect that CSR is already an integral part of the strategy planning of leading firms; however, CSR activities are only rarely represented at the top management level of local companies.⁴ In contrast to multinationals that conduct CSR activities—that is more or less influenced by group level CSR commitments—small and mid-size undertakings in Hungary do very rarely conduct CSR activities.

Remarkably, only a very little (but growing) proportion of local consumers find the seller’s CSR activities as an important/a determining factor of their purchase decision,⁵ as it is the purchase price that is of utmost importance for the Hungarian average consumer.⁶

The types of local CSR programs range between voluntary work (Provident), employment of persons with disabilities (Telenor), child support (Raiffeisen Bank), equal opportunities (Magyar Telekom), selective waste collection (Electrolux), donation/sponsorship (Audi Hungaria), education programs (Kürt), shelter programs (McDonald’s), etc. CSR commitments may be reflected in drawing up codes of conduct, in developing policies and initiatives, as well is in implementing mechanisms for the supervision of such commitments.

The Hungarian Group believes that only those CSR policies that refer to a specific commitment of its publisher (advertiser) might give rise to legal concerns. For instance, if a CSR policy refers to the fact that its signatory does not use any child labor in connection with the production of goods it sells but, in fact, the producer of the goods does employ children, this may be qualified as a misleading unfair commercial practice for which the signatory would be liable. In contrast, general declarations and mission statements in CSR policies such as “we are committed to environmental sustainability” does not reflect any specific commitment; therefore, such statements are unlikely to trigger the trader’s liability.

We note in advance that there is no relevant practice available in the Hungarian jurisdiction regarding the prosecution/breach of CSR commitments; thus, in practice, CSR policies did not give rise to any specific legal concerns in Hungary, yet.

Legal concerns might arise in the context of sponsorship of certain undertakings and relating to certain products: the Hungarian Act on Business Advertising⁷ specifically prohibits⁸ sponsorship activities relating to tobacco products if it concerns events or activities involving or taking place in several Member States of the European Economic Area or otherwise having cross-border effects, events in connection with sporting and cultural events or events or activities relating to health care. Further, tobacco companies are also required to publish the amount of their spending on sponsorship during the current year on their website and in at least two national daily newspapers. Regarding the prosecution of the tobacco sponsorship ban, BAT Hungary has been fined with HUF 10 million (approximately EUR 30,000) by the National Consumer Protection Authority (NCPA) in 2009 for awarding the “BAT Publicum’s Prize” at the National Theatre of Pécs.⁹

In the context of media services, the Act CIV of 2010 on the freedom of the press and the fundamental rules on media content generally prohibits¹⁰ surreptitious advertising in the media content. This prohibition refers to any commercial communications the publication of which deceives the audience about the true nature of the communication. In relation to CSR programs, Act CLXXXV of 2010 on Media Services and Mass Media (Act on Media Services) provides¹¹ that in media services, information concerning the corporate social responsibility of an undertaking shall not qualify as a surreptitious commercial communication, but such reports may only contain the name, logo and trademark of the undertaking and its product or service, if it is closely connected to its social responsibility. The slogan of the undertaking or any parts of its commercial communication may not appear in the report, and the information may not expressly encourage the purchase of the product or the use of the service offered by the undertaking.