Information;Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2021:765
Date: 2021-11-10
Language of the case: French
Court formation: Fourth Chamber
Subject matter: External relations;Common foreign and security policy
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded;Action for damages

summary statement of reasons sufficient (Art. 296 TFEU; Council Decision 2013/255/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2015/1836, (CFSP) 2020/212, (CFSP) 2020/719 and (CFSP) 2021/855, Annex I; Council Regulations No 36/2012, No 2020/211, No 2020/716 and No 2021/848, Annex II) (see paras 38-43, 50-52) 2. 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 – Criteria for adopting restrictive measures – Leading businesspersons operating in Syria – Association with the Syrian regime – Meaning (Art. 29 TEU; Council Decision 2013/255/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2015/1836, (CFSP) 2020/212, (CFSP) 2020/719, (CFSP) 2021/855, Arts 27(1), (2)(a) and (3) and 28(1), (2)(a) and (3); Council Regulation No 36/2012, as amended by Regulations No 2015/1828, No 2020/211, No 2020/716 and No 2021/848, Arts 15(1)(a), 1a(a) and 1b) (see paras 48, 49, 98-102, 145) 3. EU law – Principles – Rights of the defence – Right to effective judicial protection – Restrictive measures against Syria – Freezing of funds of persons, entities or bodies associated with the Syrian regime – Obligation to disclose individual and specific grounds for the decisions adopted – Scope – Notification of the person concerned by means of a publication in the Official Journal – Whether permissible – No infringement of the right to be heard (Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Arts 41(2)(a) and 52(1); Council Decision (CFSP) 2020/212; Council Regulation 2020/211) (see paras 57-59, 61, 64-69) 4. Common foreign and security policy – Specific restrictive measures against Syria – Freezing of funds of persons, entities or bodies associated with the Syrian regime – Rights of the defence – Subsequent decision maintaining the name of the applicant on the list of persons covered by those measures – No new grounds – Obligation for the Council to notify the person concerned of the new elements taken into account when periodically renewing restrictive measures – No infringement of the right to be heard (Council Decisions (CFSP) 2020/719 and (CFSP) 2021/855; Council Regulations No 2020/716 and No 2021/848) (see paras 73-75, 77, 78) 5. European Union – Judicial review of the legality of the acts of the institutions – Restrictive measures against Syria – Scope of the review – Proof that the measure is well founded – Obligation on the competent EU authority to establish, in the event of a challenge, that the grounds held against the persons or entities concerned are well founded (Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 47; Council Decision 2013/255/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2015/1836, (CFSP) 2020/212, (CFSP) 2020/719 and (CFSP) 2021/855, Annex I; Council Regulations No 36/2012, No 2020/211, No 2020/716 and No 2021/848, Annex II) (see paras 80-86) 6. European Union – Judicial review of the legality of the acts of the institutions – Restrictive measures against Syria – Scope of the review – Inclusion of the applicant’s name on the list annexed to the contested decision by virtue of his status as a leading businessman operating in Syria and his association with the Syrian regime – Documents available to the public – Probative value (Council Decision 2013/255/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2015/1836, (CFSP) 2020/212, (CFSP) 2020/719 and (CFSP) 2021/855, Annex I; Council Regulations No 36/2012, No 2020/211, No 2020/716 and No 2021/848, Annex II) (see paras 112, 117, 121) 7. Common foreign and security policy – Restrictive measures against Syria – Freezing of funds and economic resources – Action for annulment by a leading businessman operating in Syria against a freezing order – Allocation of the burden of proof – Decision based on a series of indicators – Probative value – Scope (Council Decision 2013/255/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2015/1836, (CFSP) 2020/212, (CFSP) 2020/719 and (CFSP) 2021/855, Annex I; Council Regulations No 36/2012, No 2020/211, No 2020/716 and No 2021/848, Annex II) (see paras 122-124, 126, 129, 135, 140, 142, 143) 8. Common foreign and security policy – Restrictive measures against Syria – Freezing of funds and economic resources – Action for annulment by a person associated with the Syrian regime against a freezing order – Allocation of the burden of proof – Decision based on a series of indicators – Probative value – Scope (Council Decision 2013/255/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2015/1836, (CFSP) 2020/212, (CFSP) 2020/719 and (CFSP) 2021/855, Annex I; Council Regulations No 36/2012, No 2020/211, No 2020/716 and No 2021/848, Annex II) (see paras 149, 151, 155, 162, 168) 9. 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 (Art. 263 TFEU; Council Decision 2013/255/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2015/1836, (CFSP) 2020/212, (CFSP) 2020/719 and (CFSP) 2021/855, Annex I; Council Regulations No 36/2012, No 2020/211, No 2020/716 and No 2021/848, Annex II) (see para. 164) 10. Common foreign and security policy – Jurisdiction of the EU judicature – Actions for damages – Action for compensation for damage suffered as a result of the applicant’s inclusion on a list of persons subject to restrictive measures and the implementation of those measures – Included (Art. 340 TFEU; Council Decisions (CFSP) 2015/1836, (CFSP) 2020/212, (CFSP) 2020/719 and (CFSP) 2021/855; Council Regulations No 2020/211, No 2020/716 and No 2021/848) (see para. 172) Re: First, application under Article 263 TFEU seeking annulment of Council Implementing Decision (CFSP) 2020/212 of 17 February 2020 implementing Decision 2013/255/CFSP concerning restrictive measures against Syria (OJ 2020 L 431, p. 6), Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/211 of 17 February 2020 implementing Regulation (EU) No 36/2012 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Syria (OJ 2020 L 431, p. 1), Council Decision (CFSP) 2020/719 of 28 May 2020 amending Decision 2013/255/CFSP concerning restrictive measures against Syria (OJ 2020 L 168, p. 66), Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/716 of 28 May 2020 implementing Regulation (EU) No 36/2012 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Syria (OJ 2020 L 168, p. 1), Council Decision (CFSP) 2021/855 of 27 May 2021 amending Decision 2013/255/CFSP concerning restrictive measures against Syria (OJ 2021 L 188, p. 90), and Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/848 of 27 May 2021 implementing Regulation (EU) No 36/2012 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Syria (OJ 2021 L 188, p. 18), in so far as those measures concern the applicant, and, secondly, application under Article 268 TFEU seeking compensation in respect of the harm suffered by the applicant as a result of those measures. Operative part The Court: 1. Dismisses the action; 2. Orders Mr Waseem Alkattan to pay the costs.