Information;Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2025:559
Date: 2025-06-04
Language of the case: English
Court formation: First Chamber
Subject matter: External relations;Common foreign and security policy
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded;Action for annulment - inadmissible;Action for annulment

summary statement of reasons is sufficient (Arts 263, fourth para., and 296, second para., TFEU; Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 41(2)(c); Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2023/432, (CFSP) 2023/1767 and (CFSP) 2024/847, Annex; Council Regulations No 269/2014, Annex I, 2023/429, 2023/1765 and 2024/849) (see paragraphs 83-90) 6. EU law – Principles – Rights of the defence – Right to effective judicial protection – Restrictive measures taken in view of the situation in Ukraine – 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 – Conditions – Council not able to effect notification (Art. 297(2) TFEU; Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2023/432, Art. 3(2) and Annex; Council Regulations No 269/2014, Art. 14(2) and Annex I, and 2023/429) (see paragraphs 97-103) 7. EU law – Principles – Rights of the defence – Right to effective judicial protection – Restrictive measures taken in view of the situation in Ukraine – Freezing of the funds of entities or bodies involved in economic sectors providing a substantial source of revenue to the Government of the Russian Federation – Obligation to disclose incriminating evidence – Scope – Unlawfulness of the act depending on proving the procedural relevance of the infringement of that obligation (Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 41(2)(a); Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP, as amended by Decision (CFSP) 2023/432, Annex; Council Regulations No 269/2014, Annex I, and 2023/429) (see paragraphs 104-110) 8. Common foreign and security policy – Restrictive measures taken in view of the situation in Ukraine – Freezing of funds – Rights of the defence – Notification of incriminating evidence – Initial decision having included the name of the applicant on the list of persons covered by those measures – No individual notification – Element of surprise – Infringement of the right to be heard – No such infringement (Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 41; Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP, as amended by Decision (CFSP) 2023/432, Annex; Council Regulations No 269/2014, Annex I, and 2023/429) (see paragraphs 113-116) 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 – 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 body of evidence – Error of assessment – No error of assessment (Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 47; Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2023/432, (CFSP) 2023/1767 and (CFSP) 2024/847, Annex; Council Regulations No 269/2014, Annex I, 2023/429, 2023/1765 and 2024/849) (see paragraphs 122-124, 168-173, 178, 205) 10. 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 – Including the applicant on the list annexed to the contested decision on account of it being an entity or body involved in economic sectors providing a substantial source of revenue to the Government of the Russian Federation – Publicly available documents – Probative value – Principle of the unfettered evaluation of evidence (Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2023/432, (CFSP) 2023/1767 and (CFSP) 2024/847, Annex; Council Regulations No 269/2014, Annex I, 2023/429, 2023/1765 and 2024/849) (see paragraphs 133-140) 11. Common foreign and security policy – Restrictive measures taken in view of the situation in Ukraine – Criteria for adopting restrictive measures – Entities or bodies involved in economic sectors providing a substantial source of revenue to the Government of the Russian Federation – Concept – Requirement to establish that those entities or bodies are ‘leading’ – No such requirement (Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2022/329 and (CFSP) 2023/1094, Art. 2(1)(g); Council Regulations No 269/2014, Art. 3(1)(g), 2022/330 and 2023/1089) (see paragraphs 152-157) 12. Common foreign and security policy – Restrictive measures taken in view of the situation in Ukraine – Freezing of funds of entities or bodies involved in economic sectors providing a substantial source of revenue to the Government of the Russian Federation – Restrictive measures not adopted by the Council against other persons, entities or bodies in an identical situation – Breach of the principle of equal treatment – No such breach (Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 21(2); Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2023/432, (CFSP) 2023/1767 and (CFSP) 2024/847, Annex; Council Regulations No 269/2014, Annex I, 2023/429, 2023/1765 and 2024/849) (see paragraph 177) 13. Common foreign and security policy – Restrictive measures taken in view of the situation in Ukraine – Criteria for adopting restrictive measures – Entities or bodies involved in economic sectors providing a substantial source of revenue to the Government of the Russian Federation – Concept of economic sector providing a substantial source of revenue – Banking sector – Included – Sector representing a relatively less significant share in Russia’s gross domestic product than others – Irrelevant (Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2022/329, (CFSP) 2023/432, (CFSP) 2023/1094, (CFSP) 2023/1767 and (CFSP) 2024/847, Art. 2(1)(g); Council Regulations No 269/2014, Art. 3(1)(g), 2022/330, 2023/429, 2023/1089, 2023/1765 and 2024/849) (see paragraphs 179-190, 199) 14. Common foreign and security policy – Restrictive measures taken in view of the situation in Ukraine – Criteria for adopting restrictive measures – Entities or bodies involved in economic sectors providing a substantial source of revenue to the Government of the Russian Federation – Concept of substantial source of revenue – Indirect taxes such as value added tax – Included (Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2022/329 and (CFSP) 2023/1094, Art. 2(1)(g); Council Regulations No 269/2014, Art. 3(1)(g), 2022/330 and 2023/1089) (see paragraph 193) 15. Common foreign and security policy – Restrictive measures taken in view of the situation in Ukraine – Prohibition on entry and transit and freezing of funds of certain persons and entities in view of the situation in Ukraine – Restriction of the freedom to conduct a business and of the right to property – Whether permissible – Conditions – Restriction laid down by law – Respect for the essence of the right invoked – Pursuit of an objective of general interest recognised as such by the European Union – Observance of the principle of proportionality – Conditions met (Art. 21 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) 2023/432, (CFSP) 2023/1767 and (CFSP) 2024/847, Annex; Council Regulations No 269/2014, Annex I, 2023/429, 2023/1765 and 2024/849) (see paragraphs 222-238) 16. Common foreign and security policy – Restrictive measures taken in view of the situation in Ukraine – Freezing of funds of certain persons and entities in view of the situation in Ukraine – Judicial review of legality – Principle of proportionality – Appropriateness of the restrictive measures – Restrictive measures pursuing a legitimate aim of the common foreign and security policy (Arts 5(4) and 21(2)(c) TEU; Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2023/432, (CFSP) 2023/1767 and (CFSP) 2024/847, Annex; Council Regulations No 269/2014, Annex I, 2023/429, 2023/1765 and 2024/849) (see paragraphs 240-245) Operative part The Court: 1. Dismisses the action; 2. Orders Alfa-Bank JSC to pay the costs.