Case T-288/22: Judgment of the General Court of 12 June 2024 – VEB.RF v Council (Common foreign and security policy – Restrictive measures taken in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine – Freezing of funds – List of persons, entities and bodies subject to the freezing of funds and economic resources – Inclusion and maintenance of the applicant’s name on the list – Exclusion of SWIFT services – Obligation to state reasons – Article 2(1)(b) and (d) of Decision 2014/512/CFSP – Article 1e of Decision 2014/512/CFSP – Error of assessment – Equal treatment – Proportionality – Right to property – Right to effective judicial protection – Misuse of powers)
Date: 2024-06-12
Institutions: General Court
Subjects: EU restrictive measure, Russo-Ukrainian issue, abuse of power, economic sanctions, equal treatment, freezing of assets, international sanctions, legal person, ownership, payment system, principle of proportionality, right to an effective remedy








C_202404468EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2024/4468


22.7.2024






Judgment of the General Court of 12 June 2024 – VEB.RF v Council


(Case T-288/22)
                (1)

(Common foreign and security policy - Restrictive measures taken in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine - Freezing of funds - List of persons, entities and bodies subject to the freezing of funds and economic resources - Inclusion and maintenance of the applicant’s name on the list - Exclusion of SWIFT services - Obligation to state reasons - Article 2(1)(b) and (d) of Decision 2014/512/CFSP - Article 1e of Decision 2014/512/CFSP - Error of assessment - Equal treatment - Proportionality - Right to property - Right to effective judicial protection - Misuse of powers)
(C/2024/4468)
Language of the case: Spanish

Parties


Applicant: State Development Corporation ‘VEB.RF’ (Moscow, Russia) (represented by: J. Iriarte Ángel, L. Rodríguez Jiménez, F. Rodríguez González and L. García López, lawyers)

Defendant: Council of the European Union (represented by: S. Saez Moreno, P. Mahnič and H. Marcos Fraile, acting as Agents)

Intervener in support of the defendant: European Commission (represented by: M. Carpus Carcea and G. Luengo, acting as Agents)

Re:

By its action under Article 263 TFEU, the applicant seeks annulment, in the first place, of (i) Council Decision (CFSP) 2022/265 of 23 February 2022 amending Decision 2014/145/CFSP concerning restrictive measures in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine (OJ 2022 L 42 I, p. 98) and Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/260 of 23 February 2022 implementing Regulation (EU) No 269/2014 concerning restrictive measures in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine (OJ 2022 L 42 I, p. 3); (ii) Council Decision (CFSP) 2022/1530 of 14 September 2022 amending Decision 2014/145/CFSP concerning restrictive measures in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine (OJ 2022 L 239, p. 149) and Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1529 of 14 September 2022 implementing Regulation (EU) No 269/2014 concerning restrictive measures in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine (OJ 2022 L 239, p. 1); (iii) Council Decision (CFSP) 2023/572 of 13 March 2023 amending Decision 2014/145/CFSP concerning restrictive measures in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine (OJ 2023 L 75 I, p. 134) and Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/571 of 13 March 2023 implementing Regulation (EU) No 269/2014 concerning restrictive measures in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine (OJ 2023 L 75 I, p. 1); and (iv) Council Decision 2023/1767 of 13 September 2023 amending Decision 2014/145/CFSP concerning restrictive measures in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine (OJ 2023 L 226, p. 104) and Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1765 of 13 September 2023 implementing Regulation (EU) No 269/2014 concerning restrictive measures in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine (OJ 2023 L 226, p. 3), in so far as those acts concern it.
In the second place, the applicant seeks, in essence, annulment of (i) Article 1e of Council Decision 2014/512/CFSP of 31 July 2014 concerning restrictive measures in view of Russia’s actions destabilising the situation in Ukraine (OJ 2014 L 229, p. 13), as amended by Council Decision (CFSP) 2022/346 of 1 March 2022 (OJ 2022 L 63, p. 5), read in conjunction with Annex VIII to that decision, and Article 5h of Council Regulation (EU) No 833/2014 of 31 July 2014 concerning restrictive measures in view of Russia’s actions destabilising the situation in Ukraine (OJ 2013 L 229, p. 1), as amended by Council Regulation (EU) 2022/345 of 1 March 2022 (OJ 2022 L 63, p. 1), read in conjunction with Annex XIV to that regulation; (ii) Article 1e of Decision 2014/512, as amended by Council Decision (CFSP) 2022/1313 of 26 July 2022 (OJ 2022 L 198, p. 17), read in conjunction with Annex VIII to that decision, and Article 5h of Regulation No 833/2014, as amended by Council Regulation (EU) 2022/1269 of 21 July 2022 (OJ 2022 L 193, p. 1), read in conjunction with Annex XIV to that regulation; (iii) Article 1e of Decision 2014/512, as amended by Council Decision (CFSP) 2023/191 of 27 January 2023 (OJ 2023 L 26, p. 44), read in conjunction with Annex VIII to that decision, and Article 5h of Regulation No 833/2014, as amended by Council Regulation (EU) 2022/2474 of 16 December 2022 (OJ 2022 L 322 I, p. 1), read in conjunction with Annex XIV to that regulation; and (iv) Article 1e of Decision 2014/512, as amended by Council Decision (CFSP) 2023/1517 of 20 July 2023 (OJ 2023 L 184, p. 40), read in conjunction with Annex VIII to that decision, and Article 5h of Regulation No 833/2014, as amended by Council Regulation (EU) 2023/1214 of 23 June 2023 (OJ 2023 L 159 I, p. 1), read in conjunction with Annex XIV to that regulation, in so far as all of those acts concern it.

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:






1.


Dismisses the action;










2.


Orders State Development Corporation ‘VEB.RF’ to bear its own costs and to pay those incurred by the Council of the European Union;










3.


Orders the European Commission to pay its own costs.






(1)  
            OJ C 318, 22.8.2022.


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2024/4468/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)