Information;Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2023:503
Date: 2023-09-06
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 - successful

summary statement of reasons sufficient (Art. 296 TFEU; Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2022/582, (CFSP) 2022/1530 and (CFSP) 2023/572; Council Regulations No 269/2014, No 2022/581, No 2022/1529 and No 2023/571) (see paragraphs 34, 35, 45, 46) 2. 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 (Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 47; Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2022/582, (CFSP) 2022/1530 and (CFSP) 2023/572; Council Regulations No 269/2014, No 2022/581, No 2022/1529 and No 2023/571) (see paragraphs 51-53) 3. Common foreign and security policy – Restrictive measures taken in view of the situation in Ukraine – Freezing of funds of persons responsible for, supporting or implementing actions or policies which undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty or independence of Ukraine, and of natural or legal persons, entities or bodies associated with them – Concept – Attending a meeting organised by President Putin with representatives of large companies – Support – None – Error of assessment (Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2022/582, (CFSP) 2022/1530 and (CFSP) 2023/572; Council Regulations No 269/2014, No 2022/581, No 2022/1529 and No 2023/571) (see paragraphs 58, 63, 64, 68, 105, 106) 4. European Union – Judicial review of the legality of the acts of the institutions – Restrictive measures against certain persons and entities in view of the situation in Ukraine – Freezing of funds of persons responsible for, supporting or implementing actions or policies which undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty or independence of Ukraine, and of natural or legal persons, entities or bodies associated with them – Scope of the review – Assessment of the legality by reference to the information available at the time of adoption of the decision (Art. 275, second para., TFEU; Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP, as amended by Decision (CFSP) 2022/582; Council Regulations No 269/2014 and No 2022/581) (see paragraph 66) 5. Common foreign and security policy – Restrictive measures taken in view of the situation in Ukraine – Freezing of the funds of 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 – Inclusion on the lists based on a specific, precise and consistent set of indicia (Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP, as amended by Decision (CFSP) 2022/582; Council Regulations No 269/2014 and No 2022/581) (see paragraphs 71, 77-80, 90-97, 101) 6. 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 (Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2022/582, (CFSP) 2022/1530 and (CFSP) 2023/572, Art. 2(1)(g); Council Regulations No 269/2014, Art. 3(1)(g), No 2022/581, No 2022/1529 and No 2023/571) (see paragraphs 74-76) 7. 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 substantial source of revenue – Indirect taxes such as VAT – Included (Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2022/582, (CFSP) 2022/1530 and (CFSP) 2023/572, Art. 2(1)(g); Council Regulations No 269/2014, Art. 3(1)(g), No 2022/581, No 2022/1529 and No 2023/571) (see paragraphs 94, 95) 8. 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 – Concept of economic sector providing a substantial source of revenue – Economic sector that represents only an insignificant tax contribution in relation to the total tax revenue of the Russian Federation’s budget – Irrelevant (Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2022/582, (CFSP) 2022/1530 and (CFSP) 2023/572, Art. 2(1)(g); Council Regulations No 269/2014, Art. 3(1)(g), No 2022/581, No 2022/1529 and No 2023/571) (see paragraph 99) 9. Common foreign and security policy – Restrictive measures taken in view of the situation in Ukraine – Freezing of the funds of leading businesspersons involved in economic sectors providing a substantial source of revenue to the Government of the Russian Federation and persons associated with them – Council’s obligation to carry out an updated assessment in the course of the review of the restrictive measures – Evidence to the contrary – Change in the specific situation of the person covered by the restrictive measures – Error of assessment (Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP, as amended by Decision (CFSP) 2022/582; Council Regulations No 269/2014 and No 2022/581) (see paragraphs 111, 112, 114-122) 10. 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 principle of proportionality – No breach (Art. 21(2)(b) and (c) TEU; Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Arts 16, 17 and 52(1); Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2022/429 and (CFSP) 2022/1530; Council Regulations No 269/2014, No 2022/427 and No 2022/1529) (see paragraphs 127-133, 137, 140, 143-147) 11. Common foreign and security policy – Restrictive measures taken in view of the situation in Ukraine – Freezing of the funds of leading businesspersons involved in economic sectors providing a substantial source of revenue to the Government of the Russian Federation and persons associated with them – Non-adoption by the Council of restrictive measures against non-Russian businesspersons – Breach of the principle of equal treatment – No breach (Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2022/429, (CFSP) 2022/1530; Council Regulations No 269/2014, No 2022/427 and No 2022/1529) (see paragraphs 152-154) 12. Action for annulment – Judgment annulling a measure – Effects – Limitation by the Court – Restrictive measures taken in view of the situation in Ukraine – Annulment at two different times of two acts containing identical restrictive measures – Risk of legal certainty being seriously affected – Maintenance of the effects of the first of those acts until the taking effect of annulment of the second (Art. 263 TFEU) (see paragraphs 158-162) 13. Judicial proceedings – Measures of organisation of procedure – Request for production of documents – Discretion of the EU judicature (Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 64) (see paragraphs 163-166) Operative part The Court: 1. Annuls Council Decision (CFSP) 2022/1530 of 14 September 2022 amending Decision 2014/145/CFSP concerning restrictive measures in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine, Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1529 of 14 September 2022 implementing Regulation (EU) No 269/2014 concerning restrictive measures in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine, Council Decision (CFSP) 2023/572 of 13 March 2023 amending Decision 2014/145/CFSP concerning restrictive measures in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine, and Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/571 of 13 March 2023 implementing Regulation (EU) No 269/2014 concerning restrictive measures in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine, in so far as the name of Mr Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Shulgin was maintained on the list of persons, entities and bodies subject to those restrictive measures; 2. Orders the effects of Decision 2023/572 to be maintained as regards Mr Shulgin until the date of expiry of the period for bringing an appeal or, if an appeal is brought within that period, until the dismissal of the appeal; 3. Dismisses the action as to the remainder; 4. Orders each party to bear its own costs. 1 OJ C 303, 8.8.2022.