Judgment;Abstract;Judgment (extracts) — ECLI:EU:T:2021:605
Date: 2021-09-22
Language of the case: French
Court formation: Fourth Chamber
Subject matter: External relations;Common foreign and security policy
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded;Action for damages

summary observations from being lodged within the prescribed time limit and then being supplemented, where applicable, by additional observations or evidence as part of a subsequent adversarial process of exchange with the Council. Thus, in itself, the time limit of 12 days provided by the Council in the notice published in the Official Journal on 18 February 2020 (described in paragraph 13 above) for the submission of applications for review does not constitute grounds for considering that the applicant’s right to be heard has been infringed. 95 In any event, as has been established in paragraph 91 above and, further, acknowledged by the Council, there is nothing to prevent the applicant from submitting an application, or observations, at any time, even after that deadline, in accordance with Article 32(3) of Regulation No 36/2012. In this respect, the final date set by the Council in the notice published in the Official Journal of 18 February 2020 (described in paragraph 13 above) was merely indicative. Indeed, such an indication is useful in order to allow the persons and bodies concerned to submit their applications for review before the review phase – an internal Council event they can have no knowledge of – is completed, and before new instruments are adopted by the Council. 96 Second, with respect to the arguments put forward by the applicant whereby, on the one hand, any observations submitted are not examined immediately and, on the other hand, the Council decides to examine the lists in question only once a year, it should be noted – as stated in paragraphs 91 and 95 above – that the applicant can submit observations at any time, to which the Council will provide a response without waiting for the annual review phase. 97 It should also be noted, on the basis of Article 34 of Decision 2013/255, as amended by Decision 2015/1836, that that decision is under constant review, such that it can be extended, or amended if applicable, if the Council believes that its objectives are not being achieved. That is demonstrated, as the Council rightly points out, by the fact that the initial measures were adopted not as a result of an annual review carried out in accordance with Article 32(4) of Regulation No 36/2012, as amended by Regulation No 2015/1828, but in February 2020. 98 The arguments put forward by the applicant based on the limited period allowed for the submission of an application for review of the initial measures and the fact that the Council, by examining the lists only once a year, did not immediately examine his observations, should be dismissed. … On those grounds, THE GENERAL COURT (Fourth Chamber) hereby: 1. Dismisses the action. 2. Orders Maher Al-Imam to pay the costs. Gervasoni Frendo Martín y Pérez de Nanclares Delivered in open court in Luxembourg on 22 September 2021. [Signatures] * Language of the case: French. 1 Only the paragraphs of the present judgment which the Court considers it appropriate to publish are reproduced here.