Judgment of the General Court (Seventh Chamber) of 26 November 2015 —

HK Intertrade v Council

(Joined Cases T‑159/13 and T‑372/14)

‛Common foreign and security policy — Restrictive measures against Iran with a view to preventing nuclear proliferation — Freezing of funds — Actions for annulment — Period allowed for commencing proceedings — Point from which time starts to run — Admissibility — Right to be heard — Obligation to notify — Obligation to state reasons — Rights of defence — Manifest error of assessment’

1. Actions for annulment — Time-limits — Point from which time starts to run — Measure entailing restrictive measures against a person or body — Measure published and notified to the addressees — Date of notification of the measure — Notification to the person concerned by means of a publication in the Official Journal of the European Union — Period starting to run as from the fourteenth day following that publication (Art. 263, sixth para., TFEU; Rules of Procedure of the General Court (1991), Art. 102(1); Council Decision 2010/413/CFSP, Art. 24(3); Council Regulation No 267/2012, Art. 46(3)) (see paras 37-44)

2. Actions for annulment — Grounds — Lack of or inadequate statement of reasons — Separate ground from that concerning substantive legality (Arts 263 TFEU and 296 TFEU) (see para. 52)

3. Acts of the institutions — Statement of reasons — Obligation — Scope — Restrictive measures against Iran — Freezing of funds of persons, entities or bodies engaged in or supporting nuclear proliferation — Minimum requirements (Art. 296 TFEU; Council Decision 2012/829/CFSP; Council Regulation No 1264/2012) (see paras 54-62)

4. Acts of the institutions — Statement of reasons — Obligation — Scope — Restrictive measures against Iran — Freezing of funds of persons, entities or bodies engaged in or supporting nuclear proliferation — Alternative criteria fixed by EU measures for the inclusion of an entity in the lists of persons and entities concerned by the restrictive measures — Sufficiency of reasoning based on only one of those criteria or only some of them (Art. 296 TFEU; Council Decision 2010/413/CFSP, Art. 20(1)(c); Council Regulation No 267/2012, Art. 23(2)) (see paras 65-76)

5. 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 — No right to be heard prior to the adoption of such measures — Rights guaranteed by judicial review exercised by the EU judicature and by the possibility of a hearing after the measures are taken — Obligation to disclose incriminating evidence — Scope (Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 47; Council Decision 2012/829/CFSP; Council Regulation No 1264/2012) (see paras 79-82, 85-87, 90-92, 96)

6. Judicial proceedings — Introduction of new pleas during the proceedings — Plea raised for the first time at the reply stage — Inadmissibility (Rules of Procedure of the General Court (2015), Art. 84(1)) (see paras 103, 104)

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 — Scope of control (Art. 275, second para., TFEU; Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 47; Council Decision 2012/829/CFSP; Council Regulation No 1264/2012) (see paras 107, 108)

8. Common foreign and security policy — Restrictive measures against Iran — Restrictive measures against Iran — Freezing of funds of persons, entities or bodies engaged in or supporting nuclear proliferation — Obligation to extend that measure to entities owned or controlled by such an entity — Whether an entity is owned or controlled — Assessment on a case-by-case basis by the Council — Implementation of relevant provisions of EU law — Council’s lack of discretion (Council Decisions 2010/413/CFSP, Art. 20(1)(c), and 2012/829/CFSP; Council Regulations No 267/2012, Art. 23(2)(d), and No 1264/2012) (see paras 109-112, 114)

Re:

APPLICATION, in Case T‑159/13, for annulment of Council Decision 2012/829/CFSP of 21 December 2012 amending Decision 2010/413/CFSP concerning restrictive measures against Iran (OJ 2012 L 356, p. 71) and Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1264/2012 of 21 December 2012 implementing Regulation (EU) No 267/2012 concerning restrictive measures against Iran (OJ 2012 L 356, p. 55), and, in Case T‑372/14, for annulment of the Council decision contained in the letter of 14 March 2014 concerning the maintenance of the restrictive measures adopted in respect of the applicant.

Operative part

The Court:

1. Dismisses the actions;