Auditor’s report

Statutory auditor’s report to the general meeting of Invest Europe IVZW/AISBL for the year ended 31 December 2025 – Annual accounts

In the context of the statutory audit of the annual accounts of Invest Europe IVZW/AISBL (the “association”), we hereby submit our statutory audit report. This report includes our report on the annual accounts and the other legal and regulatory requirements. These parts should be considered as integral to the report.

We were appointed in our capacity as statutory auditor by the general meeting of 16 June 2025, in accordance with the proposal of the board of directors (“bestuursorgaan” / “organe d’administration”). Our mandate will expire on the date of the general meeting deliberating on the annual accounts for the year ending 31 December 2027. We have performed the statutory audit of the annual accounts of Invest Europe IVZW/AISBL for 13 consecutive periods.

Report on the annual accounts

Unqualified opinion
We have audited the annual accounts of the association, which comprises the balance sheet as at 31 December 2025 and the income statement for the period ended at that date, as well as the explanatory notes. The annual accounts show total assets of 7 920 (000) EUR and the income statement shows a loss for the year ended of 645 (000) EUR. In our opinion, the annual accounts give a true and fair view of the association’s net equity and financial position as of 31 December 2025 and of its results for the year then ended, in accordance with the financial reporting framework applicable in Belgium.

Basis for the unqualified opinion
We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (ISA), as applicable in Belgium. In addition, we have applied the International Standards on Auditing approved by the IAASB applicable to the current financial year, but not yet approved at national level. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the “Responsibilities of the statutory auditor for the audit of the annual accounts” section of our report. We have complied with all ethical requirements relevant to the statutory audit of the annual accounts in Belgium, including those regarding independence.

We have obtained from the board of directors and the association’s officials the explanations and information necessary for performing our audit.

We believe that the audit evidence obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Responsibilities of the board of directors for the preparation of the annual accounts
The board of directors is responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of the annual accounts in accordance with the financial reporting framework applicable in Belgium and for such internal control as the board of directors determines is necessary to enable the preparation of the annual accounts that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the annual accounts, the board of directors is responsible for assessing the association’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters to be considered for going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the board of directors either intends to liquidate the association or to cease operations, or has no realistic alternative but to do so.

Responsibilities of the statutory auditor for the audit of the annual accounts
Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the annual accounts as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue a statutory auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISA will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these annual accounts.

During the performance of our audit, we comply with the legal, regulatory and normative framework as applicable to the audit of annual accounts in Belgium. The scope of the audit does not comprise any assurance regarding the future viability of the association nor regarding the efficiency or effectiveness demonstrated by the board of directors in the way that the association’s business has been conducted or will be conducted.

As part of an audit in accordance with ISA, we exercise professional judgment and maintain professional skepticism throughout the audit. We also:

• identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the annual accounts, whether due to fraud or error, design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks, and obtain audit evidence that is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. The risk of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than for one resulting from an error, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal control;

• obtain an understanding of internal control relevant to the audit in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the association’s internal control;

• evaluate the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates and related disclosures made by the board of directors; 

• conclude on the appropriateness of the use of the going concern basis of accounting by the board of directors and, based on the audit evidence obtained, whether a material uncertainty exists related to events or conditions that may cast significant doubt on the association’s ability to continue as a going concern. If we conclude that a material uncertainty exists, we are required to draw attention in our statutory auditor’s report to the related disclosures in the annual accounts or, if such disclosures are inadequate, to modify our opinion. Our conclusions are based on the audit evidence obtained up to the date of our statutory auditor’s report. However, future events or conditions may cause the association to cease to continue as a going concern;

• evaluate the overall presentation, structure and content of the annual accounts, and whether the annual accounts represent the underlying transactions and events in a manner that achieves fair presentation.

We communicate with those charged with governance regarding, amongst other matters, the planned scope and timing of the audit and significant audit findings, including any significant deficiencies in internal control that we identify during our audit.

Other legal and regulatory requirements

Responsibilities of the board of directors
The board of directors is responsible for the preparation and the content of the directors’ report on the annual accounts, for the documents to be filed according to the legal and regulatory requirements, for maintaining the association’s accounting records in compliance with the legal and regulatory requirements applicable in Belgium, as well as for the association’s compliance with the Code of companies and associations and the association’s articles of association.

Responsibilities of the statutory auditor
As part of our mandate and in accordance with the Belgian standard complementary to the International Standards on Auditing (ISA) as applicable in Belgium, our responsibility is to verify, in all material respects, the directors’ report on the annual accounts, those documents to be filed according to the legal and regulatory requirements, and compliance with certain obligations referred to in the Code of companies and associations and the articles of association, as well as to report on these matters.

Aspects regarding the directors’ report
In our opinion, after performing the specific procedures on the directors’ report on the annual accounts, the directors’ report on the annual accounts is consistent with the annual accounts for that same year and has been established in accordance with the requirements of articles 3:5 and 3:6 of the Code of companies and associations.

 In the context of our statutory audit of the annual accounts we are also responsible to consider, in particular based on information that we became aware of during the audit, if the directors’ report on the annual accounts is free of material misstatement, either by information that is incorrectly stated or otherwise misleading. In the context of the procedures performed, we are not aware of such material misstatement.

Statement on the social balance sheet
The social balance sheet, to be filed at the National Bank of Belgium in accordance with article 3:12, § 1, 8° of the Code of companies and associations, includes, both in form and in substance, all of the information required by this Code, including those relating to wages and training, and is free from any material inconsistencies with the information available to us in the context of our mission.

Statements regarding independence
Our audit firm and our network have not performed any prohibited services and our audit firm has remained independent from the association during the performance of our mandate.

Other statements

• Without prejudice to certain formal aspects of minor importance, the accounting records are maintained in accordance with the legal and regulatory requirements applicable in Belgium.

• The appropriation of results proposed to the general meeting is in accordance with the relevant legal and regulatory requirements.

• We do not have to report any transactions undertaken or decisions taken which may be in violation of the association’s articles of association or the Code of companies and associations.

Signed at Zaventem.

The statutory auditor

Digitally signed

_________________________

Deloitte Bedrijfsrevisoren/Réviseurs d’Entreprises BV/SRL
Represented by Angélique Mitrugno