Judgment of the General Court (Sixth Chamber) of 26 April 2018.Mykola Yanovych Azarov v Council of the European Union.Common Foreign and Security Policy — Restrictive measures taken in view of the situation in Ukraine — Freezing of funds — List of persons, entities and bodies subject to the freezing of funds and economic resources — Maintenance of the applicant’s name on the list — Rights of the defence — Principle of good administration — Misuse of power — Right to property — Freedom to conduct a business — Manifest error of assessment.Case T-190/16.

Judgment // 26/04/2018 // 4 min read
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Judgment of the General Court (Sixth Chamber) of 26 April 2018 –Azarov v Council

(Case T‑190/16)

(Common Foreign and Security Policy — Restrictive measures taken in view of the situation in Ukraine — Freezing of funds — List of persons, entities and bodies subject to the freezing of funds and economic resources — Maintenance of the applicant’s name on the list — Rights of the defence — Principle of good administration — Misuse of power — Right to property — Freedom to conduct a business — Manifest error of assessment)

  1. Common foreign and security policy—Restrictive measures taken having regard to the situation in Ukraine—Freezing of funds of persons involved in the misappropriation of public funds belonging to the Ukrainian State—Infringement of the right to property and of the freedom to conduct a business—Breach of principle of proportionality—None

(Art. 21(2)(b) TEU; Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Arts 16 and 17(1); Council Decisions 2014/119/CFSP, recital 2 and (CFSP) 2016/318; Council Regulation (EU) 2016/311)

(see paras 49-58, 67-71, 75-78)

  1. Actions for annulment—Pleas in law—Misuse of powers—Meaning

(see para. 82)

  1. Common foreign and security policy—Restrictive measures taken having regard to the situation in Ukraine—Freezing of funds—Rights of defence—Notification of inculpatory evidence—Subsequent decision maintaining the name of the applicant on the list of persons covered by those measures—No new grounds—Infringement of the right to be heard—None

(Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 41(2)(a); Council Decision (CFSP) 2016/318; Council Regulation (EU) 2016/311)

(see paras 96-98)

  1. Acts of the institutions—Statement of reasons—Obligation—Scope—Restrictive measures taken having regard to the situation in Ukraine—Freezing of funds of persons involved in the misappropriation of public funds belonging to the Ukrainian State—Decision falling within a context known to the person concerned, enabling him to understand the scope of the measure taken against him—Whether summary statement of reasons sufficient—Limits—Statement of reasons not capable of consisting of a general and stereotyped formulation

(Art. 296 TFEU; Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 41(2)(c); Council Decision (CFSP) 2016/318; Council Regulation (EU) 2016/311)

(see paras 116-118)

  1. Actions for annulment—Pleas in law—Lack of or inadequate statement of reasons—Separate ground from the one concerning substantive legality

(see para. 119)

  1. European Union—Judicial review of the legality of the acts of the institutions—Restrictive measures taken having regard to the situation in Ukraine—Ambit of the review—Proof the measure well-founded—Obligation on the Council systematically to verify evidence submitted by the authorities of a non-Member country—None

(Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Arts 41 and 47; Council Decision (CFSP) 2016/318; Council Regulation (EU) 2016/311)

(see paras 143-147, 152-156, 176, 189)

  1. Common foreign and security policy—Restrictive measures taken having regard to the situation in Ukraine—Freezing of funds of persons involved in the misappropriation of public funds belonging to the Ukrainian State—Nature of those measures—Purely protective measures—No criminal character

(Council Decision (CFSP) 2016/318; Council Regulation (EU) 2016/311)

(see paras 150, 151)

  1. Common foreign and security policy—Restrictive measures taken having regard to the situation in Ukraine—Freezing of funds of persons involved in the misappropriation of public funds belonging to the Ukrainian State—Assessment of the legality by reference to the information available at the time of adoption of the decision

(see para. 157)

  1. Common foreign and security policy—Restrictive measures taken having regard to the situation in Ukraine—Freezing of funds of persons involved in the misappropriation of public funds belonging to the Ukrainian State—Adoption of a restrictive measure subject to the imposition of a criminal penalty—None

(Council Decision 2014/119/CFSP, Art. 1(1)(a), as amended by Decision (CFSP) 2015/143; Regulation (EU) No 208/2014, Art. 3(1), as amended by Regulation (EU) 2015/138)

(see para. 167)

Re:

Application based on Article 263 TFEU and seeking to annul Council Decision (CFSP) 2016/318 of 4 March 2016 amending Decision 2014/119/CFSP concerning restrictive measures directed against certain persons, entities and bodies in view of the situation in Ukraine (OJ 2016 L 60, p. 76) and Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/311 of 4 March 2016 implementing Regulation (EU) No 208/2014 concerning restrictive measures directed against certain persons, entities and bodies in view of the situation in Ukraine (OJ 2016 L 60, p. 1), in so far as the applicant’s name is maintained on the list of persons, entities and bodies to which those restrictive measures apply.

Operative part

The Court

  1. Dismisses the action;

  2. Orders Mr Mykola Yanovych Azarov to pay the costs.

External relations , Common foreign and security policy