Judgment of the General Court (First Chamber) of 30 November 2016 —

Export Development Bank of Iran v Council

(Case T‑89/14)

(Common Foreign and Security Policy — Restrictive measures against Iran — Freezing of funds — Further listing of the applicant after annulment of the initial listing by the General Court — Error in law — Error in fact — Obligation to state reasons — Rights of the defence — Right to effective judicial protection — Proportionality — Equal treatment)

1. 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—Support for the Iranian Government—Scope—Compliance with the principle of legal certainty requiring clarity, precision and foreseeability of the effects of legal rules (Council Decisions 2010/413/CFSP, Art. 20(1)(c), and 2012/35/CFSP, thirteenth recital; Council Regulation No 267/2012, Art. 23(2)(d)) (see paras 38-40, 109)

2. Actions for annulment—Contested act—Assessment of lawfulness—Criteria (Art. 263 TFEU) (see paras 43, 129)

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 2010/413/CFSP, as amended by Council Decision 2013/661/CFSP; Council Regulations No 267/2012 and No 1154/2013) (see paras 55-58)

4. 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 (Art. 275, second para., TFEU; Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Arts 41(2), and 47; Council Decision 2010/413/CFSP) (see paras 75-79)

5. 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 and the free exercise of an economic activity—Breach of principle of proportionality—None (Council Decision 2010/413/CFSP, as amended by Council Decision 2013/661/CFSP; Council Regulation No 267/2012, as amended by Council Regulation No 1154/2013) (see paras 105, 106, 111-115)

6. Common foreign and security policy—Restrictive measures against Iran—Freezing of funds of persons, entities or bodies engaged in or supporting nuclear proliferation—Decision freezing the funds of an Iranian bank—Council not adopting fund-freezing measures against other entities in an identical situation—Breach of the principle of equal treatment—None (Council Decision 2010/413/CFSP, as amended by Council Decision No 2013/661/CFSP; Council Regulations No 267/2012 and No 1154/2013) (see paras 118-124)

Re:

APPLICATION based on Article 263 TFEU and seeking, principally, annulment of Council Decision 2013/661/CFSP of 15 November 2013 amending Decision 2010/413/CFSP concerning restrictive measures against Iran (OJ 2013 L 306, p. 3), and of Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1154/2013 of 15 November 2013, implementing Regulation (EU) No 267/2012 concerning restrictive measures against Iran (OJ 2013 L 306, p. 3), in so far as those acts concern the applicant, and, in the alternative, annulment of Decision 2013/661 and of Implementing Regulation No 1154/2013 in so far as those acts concern the applicant as from 20 January 2014.

Operative part

The Court:

1. Dismisses the action;

2. Orders Export Development Bank of Iran to pay, in addition to its own costs, the costs incurred by the Council of the European Union;