Information;Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2024:576
Date: 2024-09-04
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 annulment - inadmissible

summary statement of reasons sufficient (Art. 296, second para., TFEU; Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2022/1530 and (CFSP) 2023/572; Council Regulations No 269/2014, 2022/1529 and 2023/571) (see paragraphs 37-46) 3. Common foreign and security policy – Restrictive measures taken in view of the situation in Ukraine – Criteria for adopting restrictive measures – Leading businesspersons or legal persons, entities or bodies involved in economic sectors providing a substantial source of revenue to the Government of the Russian Federation and persons, entities or bodies associated with them – Observance of the principle of proportionality (Art. 21(2)(c) TEU; Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2022/1530 and (CFSP) 2023/572, Art. 2(1)(g); Council Regulations No 269/2014, Art. 3(1)(g), 2022/1529 and 2023/571) (see paragraphs 60-70) 4. Common foreign and security policy – Restrictive measures taken in view of the situation in Ukraine – Criteria for adopting restrictive measures – Leading businesspersons or legal persons, entities or bodies involved in economic sectors providing a substantial source of revenue to the Government of the Russian Federation and persons, entities or bodies associated with them – Observance of the principle of equal treatment (Art. 21(2)(c) TEU; Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2022/1530 and (CFSP) 2023/572, Art. 2(1)(g); Council Regulations No 269/2014, Art. 3(1)(g), 2022/1529 and 2023/571) (see paragraphs 72-75) 5. Common foreign and security policy – Restrictive measures taken in view of the situation in Ukraine – Criteria for adopting restrictive measures – Leading businesspersons or legal persons, entities or bodies involved in economic sectors providing a substantial source of revenue to the Government of the Russian Federation and persons, entities or bodies associated with them – Observance of the principle of legal certainty requiring clarity, precision and foreseeability of the effects of legal rules (Art. 21(2)(c) TEU; Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2022/1530 and (CFSP) 2023/572, Art. 2(1)(g); Council Regulations No 269/2014, Art. 3(1)(g), 2022/1529 and 2023/571) (see paragraphs 76-81) 6. 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 – Criteria for adopting restrictive measures (Art. 275, second para., TFEU) (see paragraph 85) 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 set of indicia – Error of assessment – None (Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 47; Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2022/1530 and (CFSP) 2023/572; Council Regulations No 269/2014, 2022/1529 and 2023/571) (see paragraphs 86-88, 146, 156, 163, 174-176, 181-183) 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 – 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 (Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 47; Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2022/1530 and (CFSP) 2023/572; Council Regulations No 269/2014, 2022/1529 and 2023/571) (see paragraphs 89, 90, 126-129, 140, 168-170) 9. 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 due to the applicant’s status as a leading businessperson involved in economic sectors providing a substantial source of revenue to the Government of the Russian Federation – Documents available to the public – Probative value – Principle of the unfettered assessment of the evidence (Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2022/1530 and (CFSP) 2022/572; Council Regulations No 269/2014, 2022/1529 and 2023/571) (see paragraphs 97-99, 110) 10. Common foreign and security policy – Restrictive measures taken in view of the situation in Ukraine – Criteria for adopting restrictive measures – Leading businesspersons involved in economic sectors providing a substantial source of revenue to the Government of the Russian Federation and persons associated with them – Concept of influence – Need to establish a link with the Russian regime – None (Art. 21 TEU; Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP, as amended by Decision (CFSP) 2022/1530, Art. 2(1)(g); Council Regulations No 269/2014, Art. 3(1)(g) and 2022/1529) (see paragraphs 112-118, 143-146) 11. Common foreign and security policy – Restrictive measures taken in view of the situation in Ukraine – Criteria for adopting restrictive measures – Leading businesspersons 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 – Petrochemical sector – Included (Art. 21 TEU; Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2022/1530 and (CFSP) 2023/572, Art. 2(1)(g); Council Regulations No 269/2014, Art. 3(1)(g), 2022/1529 and 2023/571) (see paragraphs 148-155, 160, 180) 12. Acts of the institutions – Misuse of powers – Concept (Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2022/1530 and (CFSP) 2023/572; Council Regulations No 269/2014, 2022/1529 and 2023/571) (see paragraphs 188-192) Operative part The Court: 1. Dismisses the action; 2. Orders Mr Kirill Shamalov to pay the costs.