Social Entrepreneurship and disclosure of non-financial information. Evidence from the European Union

The aim of the paper is to analyze the status of non financial information disclosure in the European Union in order to evaluate the level of acceptance of social responsibility practices. The research is divided into two sections and the approach used is mainly theoretical and qualitative. In the first part the UE financial and non-financial information regulations is analyzed; the European Union launched a process of harmonization - in order to reduce the variability of accounting rules by issuing important Directives - then subsequently it moved to the standardization process, consisting in the adoption of a single set of accounting principles to be applied uniformly to all businesses: the Regulation (EC) No. 1606/2002 is part of the standardization process (It must be applied in its entirety across the EU) while the Directive 2014/95/EU is part of the harmonization process (it sets out a goal that all EU countries must achieve). The Directive 2014/95/EU states that "large undertakings [...] shall include in the management report a non-financial statement [...]" thus making mandatory the preparation of non-financial statements. In the second part of the research, not considering the firm only as a system for the production of financia/economic value but also as economic social actor which operates in a social environment to which it belongs and with which it interacts, the concept of social entrepreneurship is explained associating to it a unique role in efficiently contributing to the achievement of sustainable development goals. Social entrepreneurship belongs to the entrepreneurs who draw up the social balance, required or permitted by the UE legislation. For this reason, the introduction of obligations in disclosing non financial information (i.e. the drafting of the social balance) in a corporate social responsibility point of view, could lead to the increase of entrepreneurship, with positive consequences in the creation of tangible benefits to both the business community and the global community