Independent Auditor’s Report

Note

Numerous employees support the development of AIXTRON’s CSR program, whether in devising our targets, defining programs, or collecting and calculating the necessary figures. We would like to thank them for their ongoing contributions as we continue to integrate sustainability into our corporate culture and further extend our leading position as the most sustainable company in our market.

Contact details for questions about this report

E-mail: communications@aixtron.com

LIMITED ASSURANCE REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT PRACTITIONER REGARDING THE NON-FINANCIAL STATEMENT

To AIXTRON SE, Herzogenrath

Our Engagement

We have performed a limited assurance engagement on the separate consolidated non-financial report pursuant to Section 315b German Commercial Code (HGB) of AIXTRON SE, Herzogenrath/Germany, (“the Company”) for the financial year from January 1 to December 31, 2021 (hereafter referred to as “non-financial statement”). This separate non-financial report comprises the text passages, tables and graphics of AIXTRON SE’s sustainability report that are marked with the omega symbol (“Ω”). Our engagement did not cover any sections not marked with an “Ω” nor any other disclosures of AIXTRON SE’s sustainability report nor any external sources of documentation or expert opinions referenced in the non-financial statement.

Responsibilities of the Executive Directors

The executive directors of the Company are responsible for the preparation of the non-financial statement in accordance with Section 315c in conjunction with Sections 289c to 289e HGB and Article 8 of Regulation (EU) 2020/852 of the European Parliament and the Council of 18 June 2020 on the establishment of a framework to facilitate sustainable investment, and amending Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 (hereafter referred to as “EU Taxonomy Regulation”) and the delegated acts adopted thereon, as well as with their own interpretation of the wording and terminology contained in the EU Taxonomy Regulation and the delegated acts adopted thereon, as is presented in section “EU Taxonomy” of the non-financial statement.

These responsibilities of the executive directors include the selection and application of appropriate methods regarding the non-financial statement and the use of assumptions and estimates for individual non-financial disclosures of the Group which are reasonable under the given circumstances. In addition, the executive directors are responsible for such internal control as they have determined necessary to enable the preparation of a nonfinancial statement that is free from material misstatement due to fraudulent behavior (manipulation of the nonfinancial statement) or error.

Some of the wording and terminology contained in the EU Taxonomy Regulation and the delegated acts adopted thereon are still subject to considerable interpretation uncertainty and have not yet been officially clarified. Therefore, the executive directors have laid down their own interpretation of the EU Taxonomy Regulation and of the delegated acts adopted thereon in section “EU Taxonomy” of the non-financial statement. They are responsible for the reasonableness of this interpretation. As there is the inherent risk that indefinite legal concepts may allow for various interpretations, the legal conformity of the interpretation is prone to uncertainty.

The preciseness and completeness of the environmental data in the non-financial statement is subject to inherent restrictions resulting from the manner in which the data was collected and calculated as well as from assumptions made. 

Independence and Quality Assurance of the Audit Firm

We have complied with the German professional requirements on independence and other professional rules of conduct.

Our firm applies the national statutory rules and professional announcements – particularly of the “Professional Charter for German Public Auditors and German Sworn Auditors” (BS WP/vBP) and of the IDW Quality Assurance Standard “Quality Assurance Requirements in Audit Practices” (IDW QS 1) promulgated by the Institut der Wirtschaftsprüfer (IDW) and does therefore maintain a comprehensive quality assurance system comprising documented regulations and measures in respect of compliance with professional rules of conduct, professional standards, as well as relevant statutory and other legal requirements.

Responsibilities of the Practitioner

Our responsibility is to express a conclusion on the non-financial statement based on our work performed within our limited assurance engagement. We conducted our work in accordance with the International Standard on Assurance Engagements (ISAE) 3000 (Revised) “Assurance Engagements Other than Audits or Reviews of Historical Financial Information”, adopted by the IAASB. This Standard requires that we plan and perform the assurance engagement so that we can conclude with limited assurance whether matters have come to our attention to cause us to believe that the nonfinancial statement of the Company, with the exception of the external sources of documentation or expert opinions referenced therein, has not been prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with Section 315c in conjunction with Sections 289c to 289e HGB and the EU Taxonomy Regulation and the delegated acts adopted thereon, as well as with the interpretation by the executive directors presented in section “EU Taxonomy” of the non-financial statement.

The procedures performed in a limited assurance engagement are less in extent than in a reasonable assurance engagement; consequently, the level of assurance obtained in a limited assurance engagement is substantially lower than the assurance that would have been obtained had a reasonable assurance engagement been performed. The choice of assurance work is subject to the practitioner’s professional judgment.

Within the scope of our limited assurance engagement, which we performed primarily during the months from January to February 2022, we performed, among others, the following procedures and other work:

• Obtaining an understanding of the structure of the Group’s sustainability organization and of the stakeholder engagement,
• On-site visits as part of an investigation into the processes for collecting, analyzing and aggregating selected disclosures at selected locations of the Group,
• Interviewing the executive directors and relevant employees involved about the process of preparation, including the arrangements and measures in place, for the preparation of the non-financial statement as well as about disclosures contained in the non-financial statement,
• Identification of risks of material misstatement in the non-financial statement,
• Analytical evaluation of selected disclosures contained in the non-financial statement,
• Cross validation of selected disclosures and the corresponding data in the consolidated financial statements as well as in the combined management report,
• Evaluation of the presentation of the sustainability performance,
• Evaluation of the process to identify taxonomy-eligible economic activities and the corresponding disclosures in the non-financial statement.

The determination of the disclosures pursuant to Article 8 of the EU Taxonomy Regulation requires the executive directors to make interpretations of indefinite legal concepts. As there is the inherent risk that indefinite legal concepts may allow for various interpretations, the legal conformity of the interpretation, and hence our related examination, is prone to uncertainty.

Practitioner’s Conclusion

Based on the work performed and the evidence obtained, nothing has come to our attention that causes us to believe that the separate consolidated non-financial report of the Company for the financial year from January 1 to December 31, 2021 has not been prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with Section 315c in conjunction with Sections 289c to 289e HGB and the EU Taxonomy Regulation and the delegated acts adopted thereon, as well as with the interpretation by the executive directors presented in section “EU Taxonomy” of the non-financial statement.

This conclusion solely relates to the text passages, tables and graphics in AIXTRON SE’s sustainability report that are marked with the omega symbol (“Ω”). Our conclusion does not relate to any sections not marked with an “Ω” nor any other disclosures of AIXTRON SE’s sustainability report nor any external sources of documentation or expert opinions referenced in the non-financial statement.

Restriction of Use

We issue this report as stipulated in the engagement letter agreed with the Company (including the “General Engagement Terms for Wirtschaftsprüfer and Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaften (German Public Auditors and Public Audit Firms)” as of January 1, 2017 promulgated by the Institut der Wirtschaftsprüfer (IDW)). We draw attention to the fact that the assurance engagement was performed for the purposes of the Company and the report is solely designed for informing the Company about the findings of the assurance engagement. Therefore, it may not be suitable for another than the aforementioned purpose. Hence, this report should not be used by third parties as a basis for any (asset) decision.

We are liable sole to the Company. However, we do not accept or assume liability to third parties. Our conclusion was not modified in this respect.

Düsseldorf/Germany, February 23, 2022

Deloitte GmbH
Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft

Signed:                                                             Signed:
(André Bedenbecker)                                        (ppa. Dr. Matthias Schmidt)
Wirtschaftsprüfer
(German Public Auditor)