Abstract Using a discursive institutionalist framework, this article analyses and assesses the recent development of EU CSR (corporate social responsibility) policy, focusing particularly on its evolution during the past decade. In so doing, the article scrutinizes the interactive processes associated with the policy construction at the EU level and explores the main sets of ideas that competed for acceptance. The analysis exposes the degree to which the voluntary approach prevails over the regulated mode of policy implementation. The data captured trigger a re-examination of some persistent, broader questions about the merits and deficiencies in EU policy-making.