Authority for Cooperative Societies (ACS)
The Authority for Cooperative Societies (ACS) is an independent service whose head is the Commissioner of Cooperative Societies. Since 7/10/2020, ACS has been designated by the Council of Ministers as the competent public authority for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Cyprus.ACS aims to carry on further developing and reinventing the various actions developed or initiated by Directorate General for European Programs, Coordination and Development - DG EPCD (the former competent authority), as well as to further promote the objectives set, in order to encourage enterprises in adapting longer-term and responsible practices, based on socio-economic, environmental and ethical standards, within the frameworks of the SDGs and EU directives for Sustainable Development.
In brief, ACS’s responsibilities/strategy include, inter alia, the organisation of business campaigns, the coordination and linking of other authorities/organizations on a local, European or international level; encouraging companies to use the "Self-Assessment Questionnaire” (prepared by DG EPCD to facilitate enterprises, through voluntary self-assessment, in determining their maturity degree of maturity in regards to implementing CSR) and the defining of a national standard for CSR, on the basis of which companies will be able to get certifications and subsidizing (in the context of a project to be implemented by ACS funded by EEA-Norway, and secured by DG EPCD).
Leaflet & Self-Assessment Questionnaire [Greek]