Judgment of the General Court (Seventh Chamber) of 4 September 2015 —
NIOC and Others v Council
(Case T‑577/12)
Common foreign and security policy — Restrictive measures adopted against Iran with the aim of preventing nuclear proliferation — Freezing of funds — Action for annulment — Infra-State body — Standing to bring proceedings — Admissibility — Obligation to state reasons — Indication and choice of legal basis — Competence of the Council — Principle of foreseeability of European Union acts — Meaning of associated entity — Manifest error of assessment — Rights of defence — Right to effective judicial protection — Proportionality — Right to property
1.                     Actions for annulment — Admissibility criteria — Interest in bringing proceedings — Natural or legal persons — Action brought by an emanation of a non-member State — Action directed against a measure instituting restrictive measures in its regard — Admissibility (Art. 29 TEU; Arts 263, fourth para., TFEU and 275, second para., TFEU; Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 47) (see paras 33-37)
2.                     Actions for annulment — Grounds — Lack of or inadequate statement of reasons — Separate ground from the one concerning substantive legality (Arts 263 TFEU and 296 TFEU) (see para. 45)
3.                     Common foreign and security policy — Restrictive measures against Iran — Freezing of funds of persons, entities or bodies engaged in or supporting nuclear proliferation — Power of the Council, in matters concerning restrictive measures based on Article 215 TFEU, to have recourse to the procedure laid down in Article 291(2) TFEU (Art. 40, first para., TEU; Arts 215 TFEU and 291(2) TFEU; Council Regulation No 267/2012, Art. 46(2)) (see paras 55, 56)
4.                     Acts of the institutions — Regulations — Regulation concerning the adoption of restrictive measures against Iran — Implementing powers reserved by the Council — Lawfulness — Conditions — Specific and reasoned cases (Arts 215 TFEU and 291(2) TFEU; Council Regulation No 267/2012, Arts 23(2) and (3), and 46(2)) (see paras 59-84)
5.                     Common foreign and security policy — Restrictive measures against Iran — Decision to freeze funds — Judicial review of legality — Scope — Article 20(1)(c) of Decision 2010/413 — Inclusion (Art. 275, second para., TFEU; Council Decisions 2010/413/CFSP, Art. 20(1)(c), and 2012/635/CFSP, Art.1(8)(a)) (see paras 93-97)
6.                     EU law — Interpretation — Texts in several languages — Uniform interpretation — Consideration of different language versions (Council Decisions 2010/413/CFSP, Art. 20(1)(c), and 2012/635/CFSP; Council Regulation No 267/2012, Art. 23(2)(d)) (see paras 103, 107)
7.                     European Union — Judicial review of the legality of the acts of the institutions — Restrictive measures against Iran — Measures in the context of the fight against nuclear proliferation — Ambit of the review — Assessment of legality by reference to the information available at the time of adoption of the decision (Art. 263 TFEU; Council Decisions 2010/413/CSFP, Art. 20(1)(c), and 2012/635/CSFP; Council Regulations No 267/2012, Art. 23(2)(d), and No 1263/2012) (see para. 112)
8.                     Common foreign and security policy — Restrictive measures against Iran — Freezing of funds of persons, entities or bodies engaged in or supporting nuclear proliferation — Criteria for adopting restrictive measures — Association with an entity providing support to the Iranian Government — Concept — Entities belonging to or controlled by an entity providing support to the Iranian Government — Included (Council Decisions 2010/413/CSFP, Art. 20(1)(c), and 2012/635/CSFP; Council Regulation No 267/2012, Art. 23(2)(d)) (see paras 114-116, 155, 175)
9.                     European Union — Judicial review of the legality of the acts of the institutions — Restrictive measures against Iran — Measures in the context of the fight against nuclear proliferation — Ambit of the review — Restricted review for general rules — Criteria for adopting restrictive measures — Association with an entity providing support to the Iranian Government — Scope — Compliance with the principle of legal certainty requiring clarity, precision and foreseeability of the effects of legal rules (Art. 29 TEU; Art. 215(2) TFEU; Council Decisions 2010/413/CSFP, Art. 20(1)(c), and 2012/635/CSFP; Council Regulation No 267/2012, Art. 23(2)(d)) (see paras 124-127, 131, 132, 134-142)
10.                     Common foreign and security policy — Restrictive measures against Iran — Freezing of funds of persons, entities or bodies engaged in or supporting nuclear proliferation — Restriction of the right to property — No breach of principle of proportionality (Council Decisions 2010/413/CSFP, Art. 20(1)(c), and 2012/635/CSFP; Council Regulation No 267/2012, Art. 23(2)(d)) (see paras 145-147)
11.                     EU law — Principles — Rights of defence — Right to effective judicial protection — Restrictive measures against Iran — Freezing of funds of persons, entities or bodies engaged in or supporting nuclear proliferation — Obligation to disclose incriminating evidence — Scope (Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 47; Council Decision 2012/635/CSFP; Council Regulation No 945/2012) (see paras 164-166)
12.                     Common foreign and security policy — Restrictive measures against Iran — Freezing of funds of persons, entities or bodies engaged in or supporting nuclear proliferation — Judicial review of legality — Scope — Obligation to submit concrete elements of evidence and information with a view to their verification (Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 47; Council Decisions 2010/413/CSFP, Art. 20(1)(c), and 2012/635/CSFP; Council Regulations No 267/2012, Art. 23(2)(d), and No 945/2012) (see paras 177, 178)
13.                     Common foreign and security policy — Restrictive measures against Iran — Freezing of funds of persons, entities or bodies identified by the Council as being engaged in nuclear proliferation — Obligation to extend that measure to entities owned, controlled by or associated with such an entity — Capacity of an owned, controlled or associated entity — Implementation of relevant provisions of European Union law — Council’s lack of discretion (Council Decisions 2010/413/CSFP, Art. 20(1)(c), and 2012/635/CSFP; Council Regulation No 267/2012, Art. 23(2))(d)) (see paras 179-182)
14.                     Fundamental rights — Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union — Scope — Relied on by a legal person regarded as an emanation of a non-Member State — Respect for the rights and fundamental freedoms of all persons and entities covered by the restrictive measures — Admissibility (Art. 215(3) TFEU; Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Arts 17, 41 and 47; Council Decisions 2010/413/CSFP, twenty-fifth recital; Council Regulation No 267/2012, twenty-sixth recital) (see paras 187-189)
Re:
First, an application for annulment of Council Decision 2012/635/CFSP of 15 October 2012 amending Decision 2010/413/CFSP concerning restrictive measures against Iran (OJ 2012 L 282, p. 58) and of Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No 945/2012 of 15 October 2012 implementing Regulation (EU) No 267/2012 concerning restrictive measures against Iran (OJ 2012 L 282, p. 16), in so far as those acts concern the applicants, and secondly, an application for a declaration of the inapplicability to the applicants of Article 20(1)(c) of Council Decision 2010/413/CFSP of 26 July 2010 concerning restrictive measures against Iran and repealing Common Position 2007/140/CFSP (OJ 2010 L 195, p. 39), as amended by Decision 2012/635, and of Article 23(2)(d) of Council Regulation (EU) No 267/2012 of 23 March 2012 concerning restrictive measures against Iran and repealing Regulation (EU) No 961/2010 (OJ 2012 L 88, p. 1).
Operative part
The Court:
1.
Dismisses the action;
2.
Orders National Iranian Oil Company PTE Ltd (NIOC), National Iranian Oil Company International Affairs Ltd (NIOC International Affairs), Iran Fuel Conservation Organization (IFCO), Karoon Oil & Gas Production Co., Petroleum Engineering & Development Co. (PEDEC), Khazar Exploration and Production Co. (KEPCO), National Iranian Drilling Co. (NIDC), South Zagros Oil & Gas Production Co., Maroun Oil & Gas Co., Masjed-Soleyman Oil & Gas Co. (MOGC), Gachsaran Oil & Gas Co., Aghajari Oil & Gas Production Co. (AOGPC), Arvandan Oil & Gas Co. (AOGC), West Oil & Gas Production Co., East Oil & Gas Production Co. (EOGPC), Iranian Oil Terminals Co. (IOTC) and Pars Special Economic Energy Zone (PSEEZ) to bear their own costs and to pay those incurred by the Council of the European Union.