During the business year 2020/21, the Supervisory Board fulfilled its responsibilities under the law and the Articles of Association; it held five plenary sessions, three meetings of the Audit Committee, and five meetings of the General Committee.
In both the General Committee and the Audit Committee meetings, the Management Board provided comprehensive oral and written information regarding the development of the company’s business as well as its financial management and position. The business year 2020/21 was defined by the economic distortions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of the Management Board’s ongoing reports on the Group’s current economic and financial situation, the Supervisory Board thus dealt intensively with the ramifications of this pandemic for voestalpine as well as with the measures the Management Board planned and took in this connection. At its meetings, the Supervisory Board also dealt in detail with scenarios regarding CO2-reduced steelmaking, the Group’s 2025+ Strategy, its sustainability strategy, its qualitative personnel planning including succession planning as well as issues related to innovation and information technology. In particular, both the General Committee and the Supervisory Board dealt with the revision of the rules of procedure for the Supervisory Board and the changes in the compensation policy applicable to the members of the Supervisory Board.
The Audit Committee concerned itself especially with the preparation and review of the company’s consolidated and annual financial statements, the auditor’s independence as well as topics related to the internal control system, the risk management system, and Internal Audit.
The auditor of the auditing firm, Deloitte Audit Wirtschaftsprüfungs GmbH, attended all meetings of the Audit Committee in the business year 2020/21 and was available for questions and discussions.
Previously, the Supervisory Board had postponed the self-evaluation required under Rule 36 of the Corporate Governance Code, which had been planned for the meeting on March 19, 2020, to the meeting on June 2, 2020, because not all Supervisory Board members were present at the March meeting in person due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting stay-at-home orders and travel restrictions, and because it makes sense to carry out a self-evaluation in a meeting at which all participating members are present in person. The self-evaluation thus took place during the business year 2020/21, specifically, at the Supervisory Board meetings on June 2, 2020, and March 18, 2021.
