At the recommendation of the Audit Committee, the Supervisory Board proposed that BDO AG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft in Hamburg be appointed as the auditor and the Group auditor for the financial year 2022.

In its recommendation, the Audit Committee declared that it is free from undue influence by third parties and that no clause of the type referred to in article 16(6) of the EU Audit Regulation has been imposed on it (Regulation (EU) No 537/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014 on specific requirements regarding statutory audit of public-interest entities and repealing Commission Decision 2005/909/EC).

BDO AG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft, Hamburg has declared to the Supervisory Board that there are no business, financial, personal or other relationships between itself, its executive bodies and its head auditors, on the one hand, and the Company and the members of the Company’s executive bodies, on the other, that could give rise to doubts about its independence.