Judgment;Information — ECLI:EU:T:2020:607
Date: 2020-12-16
Language of the case: Bulgarian
Court formation: Fourth Chamber
Subject matter: External relations;Common foreign and security policy
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded

summary statement of reasons sufficient (Art. 296 TFEU; Council Decision 2013/255/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2015/1836, (CFSP) 2019/87 and (CFSP) 2019/806, Annex I; Council Regulation No 36/2012, as amended by Regulations Nos 2015/1828, 2019/85 and 2019/798, Annex II) (see paras 62-67, 71-73) 6. European Union – Judicial review of the legality of the acts of the institutions – Restrictive measures against Syria – Scope of the review – Assessment of the legality by reference to the information available at the time of adoption of the decision (Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 47; Council Decision 2013/255/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2015/1836, (CFSP) 2019/87 and (CFSP) 2019/806, Annex I; Council Regulation No 36/2012, as amended by Regulations Nos 2015/1828, 2019/85 and 2019/798, Annex II) (see paras 78-80, 82, 84) 7. Common foreign and security policy – Restrictive measures against Syria – Freezing of the funds of persons, entities or organisations associated with the Syrian regime – Action for annulment by an influential businessman operating in Syria against a freezing order – Allocation of the burden of proof – Decision based on a series of indicators – Probative value (Council Decision 2013/255/CFSP, as amended by Decision (CFSP) 2015/1836, Arts 27(2)(a) and (3), and 28(2)(a) and (3); Council Regulation No 36/2012, as amended by Regulation No 2015/1828, Art. 15(1a)(a) and (1b)) (see paras 98, 134-138) 8. Common foreign and security policy – Specific restrictive measures against certain persons and bodies in view of the situation in Syria – Decision 2013/255/CFSP and Regulation No 36/2012 – Presumption of support for the Syrian regime in the case of leading businesspersons operating in Syria – Whether permissible – Conditions – Rebuttable presumption – No evidence to the contrary (Council Decision 2013/255/CFSP, as amended by Decision (CFSP) 2015/1836, Arts 27(2)(a) and (3), and 28(2)(a) and (3); Council Regulation No 36/2012, as amended by Regulation No 2015/1828, Art. 15(1a)(a) and (1b)) (see paras 100, 150-153, 157-159) 9. European Union – Judicial review of the legality of the acts of the institutions – Restrictive measures against Syria – Scope of the review – Adequate identification of listed persons and entities (Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 47; Council Decision 2013/255/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2015/1836, (CFSP) 2019/87 and (CFSP) 2019/806, Annex I; Council Regulation No 36/2012, as amended by Regulations Nos 2015/1828, 2019/85 and 2019/798, Annex II) (see paras 102, 104, 105) 10. Common foreign and security policy – Restrictive measures against Syria – Freezing of the funds of persons, entities or organisations associated with the Syrian regime – Limitations on the right to property, the right to free exercise of economic activity and the right to respect for private and family life – No breach of principle of proportionality (Art. 5(4) TEU; Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Arts 7, 15, 16 and 17; Council Decision 2013/255/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2015/1836, (CFSP) 2019/87 and (CFSP) 2019/806, Art. 28(6) and Annex I; Council Regulation No 36/2012, as amended by Regulations Nos 2015/1828, 2019/85 and 2019/798, Annex II) (see paras 167-172, 175, 176) Re: Action under Article 263 TFEU for the annulment of Council Implementing Decision (CFSP) 2019/87 of 21 January 2019 implementing Decision 2013/255/CFSP concerning restrictive measures against Syria (OJ 2019 L 18 I, p. 13), Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/85 of 21 January 2019 implementing Regulation (EU) No 36/2012 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Syria (OJ 2019 L 18 I, p. 4), Council Decision (CFSP) 2019/806 of 17 May 2019 amending Decision 2013/255/CFSP concerning restrictive measures against Syria (OJ 2019 L 132, p. 36), and Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/798 of 17 May 2019 implementing Regulation No 36/2012 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Syria (OJ 2019 L 132, p. 1), in so far as those acts concern the applicant. Operative part The Court: 1. Dismisses the action; 2. Orders Mr Maen Haikal to bear his own costs and to pay those incurred by the Council of the European Union.