Information;Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2024:840
Date: 2024-11-20
Language of the case: French
Court formation: First Chamber
Subject matter: External relations;Common foreign and security policy
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded;Action for damages - unfounded

summary statement of reasons sufficient (Art. 296, second para., TFEU; Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP, as amended by Decision (CFSP) 2023/1767, Annex; Council Regulations No 269/2014 and 2023/1765, Annex) (see paragraphs 63-68) 7. European Union – Judicial review of the legality of the acts of the institutions – Restrictive measures taken in view of the situation in Ukraine – Scope of the review – Proof that the measure is well founded – Obligation on the competent EU authority to establish, in the event of challenge, that the reasons relied on against the persons or entities concerned are well founded – Inclusion on the lists based on a specific, precise and consistent body of evidence (Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP, as amended by Decision (CFSP) 2023/1767, Annex; Council Regulations No 269/2014 and 2023/1765, Annex I) (see paragraphs 75-78, 119-126) 8. European Union – Judicial review of the legality of the acts of the institutions – Restrictive measures taken in view of the situation in Ukraine – Scope of the review – Inclusion of the applicant on the list annexed to the contested decision on account of his or her status as leading businessperson operating in Russia or businessperson involved in economic sectors providing a substantial source of revenue to the Government of the Russian Federation – Publicly available documents – Principle of the unfettered assessment of the evidence (Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP, as amended by Decision (CFSP) 2023/1767, Annex; Council Regulations No 269/2014 and 2023/1765, Annex I) (see paragraphs 82-92) 9. Common foreign and security policy – Restrictive measures taken in view of the situation in Ukraine – Criteria for adopting restrictive measures – Businesspersons, legal persons, entities or bodies involved in economic sectors providing a substantial source of revenue to the Government of the Russian Federation and persons associated with them – Restrictive measures pursuing a legitimate aim of the common foreign and security policy (Art. 21 TEU; Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2023/1094 and (CFSP) 2023/1767, Art. 2(1)(g); Council Regulations No 269/2014, 2023/1089 and 2023/1765, Art. 3(1)(g)) (see paragraphs 100, 101) 10. European Union – Judicial review of the legality of the acts of the institutions – Restrictive measures taken in view of the situation in Ukraine – Scope of the review – Proof that the measure is well founded – Obligation on the competent EU authority to establish, in the event of challenge, that the reasons relied on against the persons or entities concerned are well founded – Breadth of the discretion of that competent authority – Relevance of evidence produced on the basis of a previous inclusion where there are no amendments to the grounds for inclusion or changes in the applicant’s situation or in the context in Ukraine – Changes in the applicant’s situation – None (Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP, as amended by Decision (CFSP) 2023/1767, Art. 6 and Annex; Council Regulations No 269/2014 and 2023/1765, Art. 14(4) and Annex I) (see paragraphs 103-113, 116) 11. Common foreign and security policy – Restrictive measures taken in view of the situation in Ukraine – Criteria for adopting restrictive measures – Businesspersons, legal persons, entities or bodies involved in economic sectors providing a substantial source of revenue to the Government of the Russian Federation and persons associated with them – Concept of economic sector providing a substantial source of revenue – Steel and mining sectors (Art. 21 TEU; Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2023/1094 and (CFSP) 2023/1767, Art. 2(1)(g); Council Regulations No 269/2014, 2023/1089 and 2023/1765, Art. 3(1)(g)) (see paragraphs 114, 115, 124) 12. Common foreign and security policy – Restrictive measures taken in view of the situation in Ukraine – Freezing of funds of certain persons and entities having regard to the situation in Ukraine – Restriction of property rights and freedom of enterprise – Breach of the principle of proportionality –None (Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Arts 16, 17 and 52(1); Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP, as amended by Decision (CFSP) 2023/1767; Council Regulations No 269/2014 and 2023/1765, Annex I) (see paragraphs 131-139) 13. Non-contractual liability – Conditions – Unlawfulness – Damage – Causal link – One of the conditions not satisfied – Action for damages dismissed in its entirety (Art. 340, second para., TFEU) (see paragraphs 145-148) Operative part The Court: 1. Dismisses the action; 2. Orders Mr Evgeny Borisovich Zubitskiy to bear his own costs and to pay those incurred by the Council of the European Union. 1 OJ C 1098, 5.2.2024.