Compliance Guideline of the VDI

1. The Compliance Guidelines of the VDI hereinafter set forth apply to the non-profit VDI e.V. and its associated companies, namely VDI GmbH, VDI Technologiezentrum GmbH, VDI Wissensforum GmbH, VDI Service GmbH, VDI Versicherungsdienst GmbH and VDI Zentrum Ressourceneffizienz GmbH which serve the non-profit purposes of VDI e.V.

2. The actions of the VDI are derived from the non-profit purposes of the association serving the public interest and the measures taken and to be taken to fulfil them. These guiding principles apply to the entire VDI Group.

3. All actions in the VDI must be aligned to the purposes of the association as laid down in the Articles of Association. These include specifically:

• the interaction of all intellectual forces of technology with the awareness of ethical responsibility;
• the cultivation of relations with the intellectual forces of other areas of human creativity in the diverse spheres of influence of technology;
• the promotion of engineering science and research;
• the promotion of junior engineers;
• the further training of engineers and its promotion in industry, government and society;
• the cultivation of joint work to promote the exchange of professional experience and general technological progress;
• the creation of acknowledged rules of technology and of certification marks on the basis of voluntary self-responsibility for technology.

4. VDI GmbH supports the realisation of the purpose of VDI e.V., in particular through the support processes of governance and organisational management, as service provider of VDI e.V. and as operating holding company which distributes the results of its associated companies in this respect in full to VDI e.V.

5.The associated companies of VDI GmbH for their part support the realisation of the purpose of VDI e.V. by fulfilling their respective corporate purposes.

6. The VDI is committed to complying with the respectively applicable statutory and legal provisions, internal guidelines and guiding principles throughout the VDI Group. In its actions, it is guided by the values of integrity and fairness and by the principle of transparency.

7. The VDI is committed in particular to consistent compliance with national and European antitrust law and works exclusively in accordance with these provisions. Furthermore, it undertakes to actively counter any conduct contrary to antitrust law within the framework or in the sphere of its activities in accordance with its Articles of Association.

8. Management staff are responsible for ensuring compliance with the respectively applicable statutory and legal provisions, internal guidelines and guiding principles, working to achieve their compliance throughout the Group.

9. The VDI has imposed voluntary obligations upon itself through various regulations which serve the continuous realisation of this commitment. These include:

• the Articles of Association of VDI e.V. which regulate in particular the realisation of the non-profit purposes of the association;
• the rules of procedure which contain inter alia regulations for the prevention of inadmissible marketing arrangements;
• the rules of procedure of the VDI divisions which contain the above-mentioned regulations related to the respective division;
• the VDI Guideline 1000 which regulates the principles of VDI guideline work;
• the “Ethical Principles of the Engineering Profession” adopted by the VDI Executive Committee in 2002.

      In addition, the following serve the realisation of this commitment:

• signature regulations of the VDI;
• VDI guiding principles for management staff;
• data protection policies of the VDI;
• occupational safety guidelines; and
• company-specific rules (e.g. rules on the formal commitment of technology centres).

These regulations are constantly developed within the framework of the above-mentioned commitment.

10. All employees of the VDI are obliged to comply with the above-mentioned regulations as well as relevant statutory and legal provisions. They are obliged in particular to refrain from acts which can lead to criminal liability or an administrative offence due to fraud, breach of trust, insolvency offences, violations of regulations for the protection of competition, granting of advantages or bribery.

11.  Any conduct that constitutes an antitrust violation, corrupt conduct, undesired acceptance of gifts in the workplace, or any other serious violation of this commitment or supports such violation shall result in disciplinary action, including termination of the employment relationship without notice.

These COMPLIANCE GUIDELINES were approved by the Management Board of the VDI Group and entered into force on 1 January 2018.

Düsseldorf, 19 December 2017

VEREIN DEUTSCHER INGENIEURE e. V.

Ralph Appel
Director