Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2018:544
Date: 2018-09-13
Language of the case: English
Court formation: Sixth Chamber
Subject matter: External relations;Common foreign and security policy
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded

summary statement of reasons sufficient (Art. 296, second para. TFEU; Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 41(2)(c); Council Decision 2014/512/CFSP, Art. 1(2) and Annex III; Council Regulation No 833/2014, Art. 5(2)(a), (b) and (c) and Annex VI) (see paras 111, 112, 114, 116, 118, 119, 121-123, 126) 6. EU law — Principles — Rights of defence — Right to effective judicial protection — Restrictive measures taken having regard to the situation in Ukraine — Restriction on access to the EU capital market — Obligation to disclose incriminating evidence — Scope — Illegality of the act dependent upon proof that breach of that obligation would have an impact on the procedure (Art. 275, 2nd para. TFEU; Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Arts 41(2)(a) and 47; Council Decision 2014/512/CFSP; Council Regulation No 833/2014) (see paras 128-131, 136-139, 142) 7. EU law — Principles — Rights of defence — Right to effective judicial protection — Restrictive measures taken having regard to the situation in Ukraine — Export restrictions — Right to be heard prior to the adoption of such measures — None (Art. 29 TEU; Art. 215 TFEU; Council Decision 2014/512/CFSP; Council Regulation No 833/2014) (see para. 133) 8. Common foreign and security policy — Restrictive measures taken having regard to the situation in Ukraine — Restriction on access to the EU capital market — Rights of defence — Notification of inculpatory evidence — Subsequent decision maintaining the name of the applicant on the list of persons covered by those measures — No new grounds — Infringement of the right to be heard — None (Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 41(2)(a); Council Decision 2014/512/CFSP; Council Regulation No 833/2014) (see paras 144, 145) 9. EU law — Principles — Rights of defence — Restrictive measures taken having regard to the situation in Ukraine — Restriction on access to the EU capital market — Right of access to documents — Rights subject to an application in that behalf before the Council — Duty to act within a reasonable time (Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 41(2)(a); Council Decision 2014/512/CFSP; Council Regulation No 833/2014) (see paras 146, 148) 10. Common foreign and security policy — Restrictive measures taken having regard to the situation in Ukraine — Restrictions on export and access to the EU capital market — Judicial review of legality — Appropriateness of the restrictive measures — Restrictive measures pursuing a legitimate aim of the common foreign and security policy (Art. 21 TEU; Council Decision 2014/512/CFSP; Council Regulation No 833/2014) (see paras 156, 157) 11. Common foreign and security policy — Restrictive measures taken having regard to the situation in Ukraine — Legal basis — Restrictive measures laid down by a decision and a regulation adopted pursuant to Article 29 TEU and Article 215 TFEU respectively — Council competence to adopt autonomous restrictive measures distinct from those recommended by the United Nations Security Council (Art. 29 TEU; Art. 215 TFEU; Council Decision 2014/512/CFSP; Council Regulation No 833/2014) (see para. 159) 12. Common foreign and security policy — Restrictive measures taken having regard to the situation in Ukraine — Legal basis — Restrictive measures laid down by a decision adopted on the basis of Article 215 TFEU — Restrictions on export and on access to the EU capital market — No requirement to establish a link between the undertakings affected by the restrictive measures and the Russian state (Art. 29 TEU; Art. 215 TFEU; Council Decision 2014/512/CFSP; Council Regulation No 833/2014) (see paras 155, 160, 161) 13. International agreements — Communities-Russia Partnership Agreement — Measures necessary for protecting a party’s essential security interests — War or serious international tension constituting threat of war — Definition — Restrictive measures pursuing a legitimate aim of the common foreign and security policy (Art. 21 TEU; Communities-Russia Partnership Agreement, Art. 99(1)(d); Council Regulation No 833/2014) (see para. 178) 14. International agreements — GATT — Measures necessary for protecting a party’s essential security interests — Exceptions regarding security — Emergency in international relations — Definition (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, Art. XXI; Council Decision 2014/512/CFSP; Council Regulation No 833/2014) (see paras 180-182) 15. Common foreign and security policy — Restrictive measures taken having regard to the situation in Ukraine — Export restrictions — Restriction of the right to property and the free exercise of an economic activity — Breach of principle of proportionality — None (Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Arts 16, 17 and 52(1); Council Decision 2014/512/CFSP; Council Regulation No 833/2014, Art. 11) (see paras 203-208, 210) 16. Common foreign and security policy — Restrictive measures taken having regard to the situation in Ukraine — Restrictions on export and on access to the EU capital market — Judicial review of legality — Appropriateness of the restrictive measures — Restrictive measures pursuing a legitimate aim of the common foreign and security policy (Art. 21 TEU; Council Decision 2014/512/CFSP; Council Regulation No 833/2014) (see paras 209, 217) 17. Action for annulment — Pleas in law — Misuse of powers — Definition (see para. 216) 18. Common foreign and security policy — Restrictive measures taken having regard to the situation in Ukraine — Restrictions on export and on access to the EU capital market — Imposition by a Member State of criminal penalties applicable in the event of breach of Regulation No 833/2014 — Infringement of the principles of legal certainty and precision of the applicable law — None — Conditions (Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 49; Council Decision 2014/512/CFSP; Council Regulation No 833/2014) (see paras 225, 226, 228-231, 235) Re: Application under Article 263 TFEU seeking annulment of Article 1(2)(b) to (d) and Article 1(3) of, and Annex III to, Council Decision 2014/512/CFSP of 31 July 2014 concerning restrictive measures in view of Russia’s actions destabilising the situation in Ukraine (OJ 2014 L 229, p. 13), as amended by Council Decision 2014/659/CFSP of 8 September 2014 (OJ 2014 L 271, p. 54), by Council Decision 2014/872/CFSP of 4 December 2014 (OJ 2014 L 349, p. 58), by Council Decision (CFSP) 2015/971 of 22 June 2015 (OJ 2015 L 157, p. 50), by Council Decision (CFSP) 2015/2431 of 21 December 2015 (OJ 2015 L 334, p. 22), by Council Decision (CFSP) 2016/1071 of 1 July 2016 (OJ 2016 L 178, p. 21), and by Council Decision (CFSP) 2016/2315 of 19 December 2016 (OJ 2016 L 345, p. 65), and also of Articles 3, 3a, Article 4(3) and (4), Annex II, Article 5(2)(b) to (d) and Article 5(3), Annex VI and Article 11 of Council Regulation (EU) No 833/2014 of 31 July 2014 concerning restrictive measures in view of Russia’s actions destabilising the situation in Ukraine (OJ 2014 L 229, p. 1), as amended by Council Regulation (EU) No 960/2014 of 8 September 2014 (OJ 2014 L 271, p. 3), and by Council Regulation (EU) No 1290/2014 of 4 December 2014 (OJ 2014 L 349, p. 20). Operative part The Court: 1. Dismisses the action; 2. Orders PAO Rosneft Oil Company, RN-Shelf-Arctic OOO, AO RN-Shelf-Far East, RN-Exploration OOO and Tagulskoe OOO to bear their own costs and to pay those incurred by the Council of the European Union; 3. Orders the European Commission and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland each to bear their own costs.