Introductory remarks

This report combines the management report of the Deutsche Telekom Group, comprising Deutsche Telekom AG and its consolidated subsidiaries, and the management report of Deutsche Telekom AG.

In light of the expected transposition of the European Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) into national law, we as a company with a global footprint have already based the preparation of the combined sustainability statement on the first set of European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) as a framework and applied them in full. This sustainability statement contains the information in accordance with § 315c German Commercial Code (Handelsgesetzbuch – HGB) in conjunction with § 289c to § 289e HGB. Accordingly, we have incorporated key elements from the “Employees” section of last year’s report into the sustainability statement. The sustainability statement additionally contains the reporting requirements regarding environmentally sustainable economic activities in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2020/852 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the establishment of a framework to facilitate sustainable investment, and amending Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 (EU Taxonomy). The Supervisory Board of Deutsche Telekom AG is responsible for the review of the content of the sustainability statement. It did this with the support of Deloitte GmbH Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft (independent auditor) in the form of a limited assurance engagement.

For further information on the transition to the ESRS and on the EU Taxonomy, please refer to the section “Combined sustainability statement.”

Likewise given the expected transposition of the CSRD into national law, we have added reporting on our most important intangible resources to the combined management report.

For further information, please refer to the section “Group organization – Intangible resources.”

In adapting the general section of the combined management report to the requirements of the CSRD, we have restructured the section “Technology and innovation” to add clarity and focus to the information presented, which was reduced to the statutory minimum disclosures. This area continues to be of major significance to the Group.

The combined management report contains information extraneous to the management report, which is designated with footnotes. This information is not required by law, nor is it stipulated by German Accounting Standard No. 20 (GAS 20).

The recommendations of the German Corporate Governance Code (GCGC) in the amended version published in the Federal Gazette on June 27, 2022 require, among other disclosures, information on the internal control system and the risk and opportunity management system that go beyond the legal requirements for the management report and are therefore excluded from the substantive audit of the management report by the independent auditor (information extraneous to the management report). This information is included in paragraphs clearly separated from the information that has to be audited, and is designated with a footnote.

For further information, please refer to the section “Governance and other disclosures.”

The Corporate Governance Statement pursuant to § 289f, § 315d HGB is available on our Investor Relations website. The Declaration of Conformity pursuant to § 161 of the German Stock Corporation Act (Aktiengesetz – AktG) forms part of the Corporate Governance Statement, which – as explained above – is published online, and is also reproduced separately in the “Governance and other disclosures” section of the combined management report. The Corporate Governance Statement is not part of the independent auditor’s substantive audit. The Declaration of Conformity included in the combined management report is likewise excluded from the independent auditor’s substantive audit.

The Remuneration Report pursuant to § 162 AktG is available on the Deutsche Telekom AG website. The Remuneration Report was reviewed by the independent auditor in accordance with § 162 (3) AktG. The audit opinion resulting from the audit is provided in full at the end of the Remuneration Report.

To avoid the repetition of content within the combined management report, which includes the combined sustainability statement, please refer to further information provided in other sections or segments of the combined management report wherever appropriate. This includes references to the combined management report from the combined sustainability statement, and vice versa.

In addition, our combined management report includes references and links to websites with additional information outside the combined management report. These references and links are purely of a supplementary nature and are only intended to simplify access to this information. Please note that this information is not part of the combined management report and is therefore also excluded from the auditor’s substantive audit.