✓ The “Corporate Responsibility” chapter consists of two material topics – responsible corporate management and supply chain responsibility – in which we report among other things on compliance, anti-corruption, and respect for human rights.
United Internet considers itself responsible for ensuring the Company’s continued existence by managing it responsibly and with a view to the long term. We aim to ensure compliance with all relevant laws, regulations, standards, and ethical practices. Our Corporate Values, Leadership Principles, and Code of Conduct form the basis for our daily work, and are designed to facilitate fair, respectful dealings with one another and to prevent corrupt business practices.
For us, compliance is a precondition for doing business successfully in the long term and hence an integral part of all Group activities. Our Code of Conduct for employees lays the foundations for legally and ethically acceptable behavior and summarizes the key rules. It contains requirements regarding fair competition and anti-corruption, and makes concrete recommendations on how to act.
Supply chain responsibility – especially in the areas of environmental protection, and labor and human rights – is a material topic for us since we do business not only in our home market of Germany but also in other European countries and North America. Human rights comprise not only very basic fundamental rights such as the rights to life, freedom, and equality, but also a wide range of aspects from the world of work, such as the prohibition on discrimination and (“modern”) slavery, and the right to rest. Also included are rights relating to the internet and the digital arena, such as freedom of opinion and information, and the protection of privacy.
The importance of this topic and expectations that organizations will examine their cooperation with business partners and suppliers have been highlighted even more recently by e.g., the National Action Plan for the Implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (“NAP”) and the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (Lieferkettensorgfaltspflichtengesetz – LkSG) that entered into force in January 2023.
As regards our business partnerships and supplier relationships, the basic principle is that companies in Germany are subject to the same strict statutory requirements as United Internet itself. In addition, telecommunications is largely a regulated market. The integrity of our business partners is essential for us, since negative events could also reflect on United Internet and hence lead to market and reputational risks for us. ✓
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