Committee activities
In order to discharge the duties entrusted to it, the Supervisory Board has established five committees: the Executive Committee, the Nomination Committee, the Mediation Committee established in accordance with section 27(3) of the Mitbestimmungsgesetz (MitbestG – German Codetermination Act), the Audit Committee and, since October 2015, the Special Committee on Diesel Engines. The Executive Committee and the Special Committee on Diesel Engines each consist of three shareholder representatives and three employee representatives. The shareholder representatives on the Executive Committee make up the Nomination Committee. The remaining two committees are each composed of two shareholder representatives and two employee representatives. The members of these committees as of December 31, 2018 are given in chapter “Executive Bodies” of this annual report.
The Executive Committee met 13 times in the reporting period. At its meetings, the Executive Committee prepared the resolutions of the Supervisory Board in detail, dealt with the composition of the Board of Management and took decisions on, among other things, contractual issues concerning the Board of Management other than remuneration and on consenting to ancillary activities by members of the Board of Management.
The Nomination Committee is responsible for proposing suitable candidates for the Supervisory Board to recommend for election to the Annual General Meeting. This committee met on one occasion in 2018.
The Mediation Committee did not have to be convened in the reporting period.
The Audit Committee held five meetings in the past fiscal year. It focused on the annual and consolidated financial statements, the risk management system including the effectiveness of the internal control system and the internal audit system, and the work performed by the Company’s Compliance organization. In addition, the Audit Committee concerned itself with the Volkswagen Group’s quarterly reports and the half-yearly financial report, as well as with current issues and the supervision of financial reporting and the financial reporting process, and the examination thereof by the auditors. Moreover, the Audit Committee completed the call for bids for audits and other audit-related services in the Volkswagen Group from fiscal year 2020. In this process, Volkswagen AG and other public-interest entities of the Volkswagen Group follow the selection procedure within the meaning of Article 16(3) of Regulation (EU) No 537/2014.
The Special Committee on Diesel Engines is responsible for coordinating all activities relating to the diesel issue and preparing resolutions by the Supervisory Board. To this end, the Special Committee on Diesel Engines is also provided with regular information by the Board of Management. This Special Committee is also entrusted with examining any consequences of the findings. The Chairman of the Special Committee on Diesel Engines reports regularly on its work to the Supervisory Board. In 2018, the Special Committee on Diesel Engines met on four occasions to discuss, among other topics, the regulatory offense proceedings terminated by administrative fine orders issued by the public prosecutor’s offices in Braunschweig and Munich II and the Supervisory Board’s proposed resolutions regarding formal approval of the actions of the members of the Board of Management and Supervisory Board incumbent in fiscal year 2017.
Furthermore, as a rule, the shareholder and employee representatives met for separate preliminary discussions before each of the Supervisory Board meetings.