Judgment of the Court (Seventh Chamber) of 11 July 2019.Mykola Yanovych Azarov v Council of the European Union.Appeal — Restrictive measures taken in view of the situation in Ukraine — Freezing of funds and economic resources — List of persons, entities and bodies covered by the freezing of funds and economic resources — Maintenance of the applicant’s name — Decision by an authority of a third State — Council’s obligation to verify that that decision was taken in accordance with the rights of the defence and the right to effective judicial protection.Case C-416/18 P.

Judgment // 11/07/2019 // 2 min read
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Judgment of the Court (Seventh Chamber) of 11 July 2019 — Azarov v Council

(Case C‑416/18 P) ( 1 )

(Appeal — Restrictive measures taken in view of the situation in Ukraine — Freezing of funds and economic resources — List of persons, entities and bodies covered by the freezing of funds and economic resources — Maintenance of the applicant’s name — Decision by an authority of a third State — Council’s obligation to verify that that decision was taken in accordance with the rights of the defence and the right to effective judicial protection)

  1. European Union — Judicial review of the legality of the acts of the institutions — Restrictive measures taken having regard to the situation in Ukraine — Freezing of funds of persons involved in the misappropriation of public funds and of natural or legal persons, bodies or organisations associated with them — Scope of the review

(Art. 275, second paragraph, TFEU; Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 47; Council Decision (CFSP) 2016/318; Council Regulation 2016/311)

(see paras 22, 23, 39, 40)

  1. Common foreign and security policy — Restrictive measures taken having regard to the situation in Ukraine — Decision to freeze funds — Adoption or retention on the basis of a national fund-freezing decision of an authority of a third State — Whether permissible — Condition — National decision adopted in accordance with the rights of the defence and the right to effective judicial protection — Council’s verification obligation — Obligation to state reasons — Scope — Third State that has acceded to the European Convention on Human Rights — Irrelevant

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

(see paras 27-31, 37)

Operative part

The Court:

  1. Sets aside the judgment of the General Court of the European Union of 26 April 2018, Azarov v Council (T‑190/16, not published, EU:T:2018:232);

  2. Annuls 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, 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, in so far as they concern Mr Mykola Yanovych Azarov;

  3. Orders the Council of the European Union to pay the costs incurred both in the proceedings at first instance and in the present appeal.

( 1 ) OJ C 301, 27.8.2018.

Common foreign and security policy , External relations