Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2018:543
Date: 2018-09-13
Language of the case: Spanish
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, 2nd para. TFEU; Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 41(2)(c); Council Decision 2014/512/CFSP; Council Regulation No 833/2014) (see paras 66, 67, 69, 71, 72, 74-76, 78) 3. EU law — Interpretation — Texts in several languages — Differences between the various language versions — Account to be taken of the overall scheme and purpose of the legislation in question (see para. 82) 4. Common foreign and security policy — Restrictive measures taken having regard to the situation in Ukraine — Criteria for adopting restrictive measures — Major credit institution or any other major institution with an explicit mandate to promote the competitiveness of the Russian economy its diversification and encouragement of investment — Definition — Cumulative nature of classification as a major credit institution and whether there is such mandate — Absence (Art. 215 TFEU; Council Decision 2014/512/CFSP, Art. 1(1)(a); Council Regulation No 833/2014, Art. 5(1)(a)) (see paras 83, 84) 5. European Union — Judicial review of the legality of the acts of the institutions — Restrictive measures taken having regard to the situation in Ukraine — Ambit of the review (Art. 275, 2nd para. TFEU; Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 47; Council Decision 2014/512/CFSP; Council Regulation No 833/2014) (see paras 93-95) 6. Common foreign and security policy — Restrictive measures taken having regard to the situation in Ukraine — Restrictions on access to EU capital markets — 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 96, 97, 133, 148) 7. EU law — Principles — Rights of defence — Right to effective judicial protection — Restrictive measures taken having regard to the situation in Ukraine — Restrictions on access to EU capital markets — Obligation to disclose incriminating evidence — Scope (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 106-109, 112, 115, 116, 119) 8. Common foreign and security policy — Restrictive measures taken having regard to the situation in Ukraine — Restrictions on access to EU capital markets — 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 — No infringement of the right to be hear (Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 41(2)(a); Council Decision 2014/512/CFSP; Council Regulation No 833/2014) (see para. 121) 9. EU law — Principles — Rights of defence — Restrictive measures taken having regard to the situation in Ukraine — Restrictions on access to EU capital markets — 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 122, 124) 10. Action for annulment — Pleas in law — Misuse of powers — Concept (see para. 131) 11. Common foreign and security policy — Restrictive measures taken having regard to the situation in Ukraine — Restrictions on access to EU capital markets — Restriction of the right to property and the free exercise of an economic activity and damage to reputation — No breach of principle of proportionality (Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Arts 16, 17 and 52(1); Council Decision 2014/512/CFSP; Council Regulation No 833/2014) (see paras 142, 143, 145, 146, 149-154) 12. Action for annulment — Pleas in law — Not possible to invoke WTO agreements to challenge the legality of an EU measure — Exceptions — EU measure intended to ensure its implementation or referring thereto expressly and precisely (Art. 263, 1st para. TFEU; General Agreement on Trade in Services 1994 (GATS)) (see paras 155, 157) 13. Common foreign and security policy — Restrictive measures taken having regard to the situation in Ukraine — Restrictions on access to EU capital markets — Decision to include a Russian banking entity in the list of persons and entities under restrictive measures — Restrictive measures not adopted by the Council against other entities in an identical situation — No breach of the principle of equal treatment (Council Decision 2010/512/CFSP; Council Regulation No 833/2014) (see paras 161, 164) Re: Application under Article 263 TFEU seeking annulment in part of 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, amending Decision 2014/512 (OJ 2014 L 271, p. 54), and 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, amending Regulation No 833/2014 (OJ 2014 L 271, p. 3), in so far as those acts concern the applicant. Operative part The Court: 1. Dismisses the action; 2. Orders Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Affairs (Vnesheconombank) to bear its own costs and to pay those incurred by the Council of the European Union in these proceedings and in the interlocutory proceedings; 3. Orders the European Commission to bear its own costs.