Judgment;Information — ECLI:EU:T:2021:187
Date: 2021-04-14
Language of the case: English
Court formation: Fourth Chamber
Subject matter: External relations;Common foreign and security policy
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded

summary statement of reasons sufficient (Art. 296 TFEU; Council Decision 2013/255/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2015/1836 and (CFSP) 2019/87, Annex I; Council Regulations No 36/2012, Annex II, 2015/1828 and 2019/85) (see paras 37-42, 46) 3. European Union – Judicial review of the legality of the acts of the institutions – Restrictive measures against Syria – 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 grounds held against the persons or entities concerned are well founded (Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 47; Council Decision 2013/255/CFSP, as amended by Decision (CFSP) 2019/87, Annex I; Council Regulations No 36/2012 and No 2019/85, Annex II) (see paras 57-62) 4. Common foreign and security policy – Specific restrictive measures against certain persons and bodies in view of the situation in Syria – Decision 2013/255/CFSP and Regulation No 36/2012 – Criteria for adopting restrictive measures – Support provided to and benefit derived from the Syrian regime – Concept – Inclusion on the lists based on a specific, precise and consistent set of indicia (Council Decision 2013/255/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2015/1836 and (CFSP) 2019/87, Arts 27(1) and 28(1); Council Regulations No 36/2012, Art. 15 (1)(a), 2015/1828 and 2019/85) (see paras 64, 93, 94, 161) 5. European Union – Judicial review of the legality of the acts of the institutions – Restrictive measures against Syria – Scope of the review – Inclusion of the applicant in the list annexed to the contested decision by virtue of his status as a leading businessperson operating in Syria – Publicly accessible documents – Probative value – Principle of the unfettered assessment of the evidence (Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 47; Council Decision 2013/255/CFSP, as amended by Decision (CFSP) 2019/87, Annex I; Council Regulations No 36/2012, Annex II and 2019/85) (see paras 71, 72, 74, 85, 106, 116, 121) 6. Common foreign and security policy – Specific restrictive measures against certain persons and bodies in view of the situation in Syria – Decision 2013/255/CFSP and Regulation No 36/2012 – Presumption of support for the Syrian regime in the case of leading businesspersons operating in Syria – Whether permissible – Conditions – Rebuttable presumption – Evidence to the contrary – None (Council Decision 2013/255/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2015/1836 and (CFSP) 2019/87, Arts 27(3) and 28(3)) (see paras 142, 143, 146-149) 7. Common foreign and security policy – Restrictive measures against Syria – Freezing of the funds of and restrictions on the admission of persons, entities or organisations associated with the Syrian regime – Restriction of the right to property and the free exercise of an economic activity – Breach of principle of proportionality – None (Art. 5(4) TEU; Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Arts 7, 15, 16 and 17; Council Decision 2013/255/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2015/1836 and (CFSP) 2019/87, Art. 28(6); Council Regulations No 36/2012, Art. 16, 2015/1828 and 2019/85) (see paras 172-174, 176-179) 8. Judicial proceedings – Measures of inquiry – Parties’ appearance in person – Expert’s report – Discretion of the General Court (Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 91(a)) (see para. 182) Re: Action under Article 263 TFEU for annulment of Council Implementing Decision (CFSP) 2019/87 of 21 January 2019 implementing Decision 2013/255/CFSP concerning restrictive measures against Syria (OJ 2019 L 18 I, p. 13) and Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/85 of 21 January 2019 implementing Regulation (EU) No 36/2012 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Syria (OJ 2019 L 18 I, p. 4) in so far as they concern the applicant. Operative part The Court: 1. Dismisses the action; 2. Orders Mr Mazen Al-Tarazi to bear his own costs and to pay those incurred by the Council of the European Union.