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Dokumentas 62022TJ0249
Judgment of the General Court (First Chamber) of 5 March 2025.
Alexander Ponomarenko v Council of the European Union.
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 – Restrictions on entry into the territory of the Member States – List of persons, entities and bodies subject to the freezing of funds and economic resources or subject to restrictions on admission to the territories of the Member States – Inclusion and maintenance of the applicant’s name on the list – Concept of ‘supporting, materially or financially Russian decision-makers’ – Article 2(1)(d) of Decision 2014/145/CFSP – Concept of ‘association’ – Article 2(1), in fine, of Decision 2014/145 – Right to a fair trial – Right to effective judicial protection – Rights of the defence – Duty to state reasons – Proportionality – Right to property – Equal treatment.
Case T-249/22.
Judgment of the General Court (First Chamber) of 5 March 2025.
Alexander Ponomarenko v Council of the European Union.
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 – Restrictions on entry into the territory of the Member States – List of persons, entities and bodies subject to the freezing of funds and economic resources or subject to restrictions on admission to the territories of the Member States – Inclusion and maintenance of the applicant’s name on the list – Concept of ‘supporting, materially or financially Russian decision-makers’ – Article 2(1)(d) of Decision 2014/145/CFSP – Concept of ‘association’ – Article 2(1), in fine, of Decision 2014/145 – Right to a fair trial – Right to effective judicial protection – Rights of the defence – Duty to state reasons – Proportionality – Right to property – Equal treatment.
Case T-249/22.
Europos teismų praktikos identifikatorius (ECLI): ECLI:EU:T:2025:202
Judgment of the General Court (First Chamber) of 5 March 2025 –
Ponomarenko v Council
(Case T‑249/22)
(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 – Restrictions on entry into the territory of the Member States – List of persons, entities and bodies subject to the freezing of funds and economic resources or subject to restrictions on admission to the territories of the Member States – Inclusion and maintenance of the applicant’s name on the list – Concept of ‘supporting, materially or financially Russian decision-makers’ – Article 2(1)(d) of Decision 2014/145/CFSP – Concept of ‘association’ – Article 2(1), in fine, of Decision 2014/145 – Right to a fair trial – Right to effective judicial protection – Rights of the defence – Duty to state reasons – Proportionality – Right to property – Equal treatment)
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EU law – Principles – Rights of the defence – Right to effective judicial protection – Restrictive measures taken in view of the situation in Ukraine – Obligation to disclose individual and specific grounds for the decisions adopted – Obligation to enable the person concerned effectively to put forward his or her point of view regarding the reasons relied on against him or her – Scope – Duty to act within a reasonable time (Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Arts 41(2) and 47; Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2022/337, (CFSP) 2022/1530, (CFSP) 2023/572, (CFSP) 2023/1767 and (CFSP) 2024/847; Council Regulations No 269/2014, 2022/336, 2022/1529, 2023/571, 2023/1765 and 2024/849) (see paragraphs 45-47) |
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EU law – Principles – Rights of the defence – Right to be heard – No obligation on the institutions to adhere to the point of view of the parties concerned – No obligation to reply to all the arguments of the parties (Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Arts 41(2) and 48) (see paragraph 50) |
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EU law – Principles – Rights of the defence – Right to effective judicial protection – Restrictive measures taken in view of the situation in Ukraine – Freezing of funds and economic resources – Obligation to disclose inculpatory evidence – Limits – Safety of the Union and the Member States or conduct of their international relations (Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Arts 41(2) and 47; Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2022/337, (CFSP) 2022/1530, (CFSP) 2023/572, (CFSP) 2023/1767 and (CFSP) 2024/847; Council Regulations No 269/2014, 2022/336, 2022/1529, 2023/571, 2023/1765 and 2024/849) (see paragraphs 52-59) |
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Acts of the institutions – Statement of reasons – Obligation – Scope – Restrictive measures taken in view of the situation in Ukraine – Freezing of funds of certain persons and entities having regard to the situation in Ukraine – Obligation to identify in the statement of reasons the specific and concrete elements justifying the said measure – Decision falling within a context known to the person concerned, enabling him or her to understand the scope of the measure taken against him or her – Whether summary statement of reasons sufficient (Art. 29 TEU; Arts 215 and 296 TFEU; Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2022/337, (CFSP) 2022/1530, (CFSP) 2023/572, (CFSP) 2023/1767 and (CFSP) 2024/847; Council Regulations No 269/2014, 2022/336, 2022/1529, 2023/571, 2023/1765 and 2024/849) (see paragraphs 66-69, 71-79) |
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European Union – Judicial review of the legality of the acts of the institutions – Restrictive measures taken in view of the situation in Ukraine – Scope of the review – Proof that the measure is well founded – Obligation on the competent EU authority to establish, in the event of challenge, that the reasons relied on against the persons or entities concerned are well founded – Inclusion on the lists based on a specific, precise and consistent body of evidence – No error of assessment (Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 47; Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2022/337, (CFSP) 2022/1530, (CFSP) 2023/572, (CFSP) 2023/1767 and (CFSP) 2024/847; Council Regulations No 269/2014, 2022/336, 2022/1529, 2023/571, 2023/1765 and 2024/849) (see paragraphs 86-89, 120-134) |
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European Union – Judicial review of the legality of the acts of the institutions – Restrictive measures taken in view of the situation in Ukraine – Scope of the review – Proof that the measure is well founded – Obligation on the competent EU authority to establish, in the event of challenge, that the reasons relied on against the persons or entities concerned are well founded – Breadth of the discretion of that competent authority – Relevance of evidence produced on the basis of a previous inclusion where there are no amendments to the grounds for inclusion or changes in the applicant’s situation or in the context in Ukraine (Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 47; Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2023/572, (CFSP) 2023/1767 and (CFSP) 2024/847; Council Regulations No 269/2014, 2023/571, 2023/1765 and 2024/849) (see paragraphs 90, 91, 157-162) |
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European Union – Judicial review of the legality of the acts of the institutions – Restrictive measures taken in view of the situation in Ukraine – Scope of the review – Inclusion of the applicant’s name on the list annexed to the contested decision due to his or her material or financial support for Russian decision-makers or to benefiting from those decision-makers – Publicly available documents – Probative value – Principle of the unfettered assessment of the evidence (Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2022/337, (CFSP) 2022/1530, (CFSP) 2023/572, (CFSP) 2023/1767 and (CFSP) 2024/847; Council Regulations No 269/2014, 2022/336, 2022/1529, 2023/571, 2023/1765 and 2024/849) (see paragraphs 96-102, 146-153) |
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European Union – Judicial review of the legality of the acts of the institutions – Restrictive measures against certain persons and entities in view of the situation in Ukraine – Freezing of funds of persons, entities or bodies providing material or financial support to Russian decision-makers or benefiting from those decision-makers – Scope of the review – Assessment of the legality by reference to the information available at the time of adoption of the decision – Evidence not included in the file of evidence relating to the administrative proceedings produced by the Council in the judicial proceedings – Whether permissible – Conditions (Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2022/337, (CFSP) 2022/1530, (CFSP) 2023/572, (CFSP) 2023/1767 and (CFSP) 2024/847; Council Regulations No 269/2014, 2022/336, 2022/1529, 2023/571, 2023/1765 and 2024/849) (see paragraphs 106-110) |
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Common foreign and security policy – Restrictive measures taken in view of the situation in Ukraine – Criteria for adopting restrictive measures – Natural or legal persons, entities or bodies providing material or financial support to Russian decision-makers or benefiting from those decision-makers, and natural or legal persons, entities or bodies associated with them – Concept of supporting, materially or financially – Requirement that support be quantitatively or qualitatively important – No need to establish a link between that support and the annexation of Crimea or the destabilisation of Ukraine (Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP, as amended by Decision 2022/329, Art. 2(1)(d); Council Regulations No 269/2014, Art. 3(1)(d) and 2022/330) (see paragraph 118) |
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European Union – Judicial review of the legality of the acts of the institutions – Restrictive measures taken in view of the situation in Ukraine – Scope of the review – Measures capable of being supported by some grounds and not others – Validity of those measures (Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2022/337, (CFSP) 2022/1530, (CFSP) 2023/572, (CFSP) 2023/1767 and (CFSP) 2024/847; Council Regulations No 269/2014, 2022/336, 2022/1529, 2023/571, 2023/1765 and 2024/849) (see paragraph 135) |
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Common foreign and security policy – Restrictive measures taken in view of the situation in Ukraine – Criteria for adopting restrictive measures – Person, entity or body associated with a person included on the list annexed to the contested decision – Concept of association – Common interests – Financial ties – Included (Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2022/329, (CFSP) 2023/572, (CFSP) 2023/1767 and (CFSP) 2024/847, Art. 2(1); Council Regulations No 269/2014, Art. 3(1), 2023/571, 2023/1765 and 2024/849) (see paragraphs 166-174, 177) |
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Common foreign and security policy – Restrictive measures taken in view of the situation in Ukraine – Freezing of funds of certain persons and entities having regard to the situation in Ukraine – Judicial review of legality – Principle of proportionality – Appropriateness of the restrictive measures – Restrictive measures pursuing a legitimate aim of the common foreign and security policy (Arts 5(4) and 21(2)(c) TEU; Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2022/337, (CFSP) 2022/1530, (CFSP) 2023/572, (CFSP) 2023/1767 and (CFSP) 2024/847; Council Regulations No 269/2014, 2022/336, 2022/1529, 2023/571, 2023/1765 and 2024/849) (see paragraphs 184-189) |
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Common foreign and security policy – Restrictive measures taken in view of the situation in Ukraine – Prohibition on entry and transit and freezing of funds of certain persons and entities in view of the situation in Ukraine – Restriction of the right to property – Whether permissible – Conditions – Restriction laid down by law – Respect for the essence of the right invoked – Pursuit of an objective of general interest recognised as such by the European Union – Observance of the principle of proportionality – Conditions met (Arts 21(2)(b) and (c) and 29 TEU; Art. 215 TFEU; Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Arts 17 and 52(1); Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2022/337, (CFSP) 2022/1530, (CFSP) 2023/572, (CFSP) 2023/1767 and (CFSP) 2024/847, Art. 2(3) and (4); Council Regulations No 269/2014, Arts 4 to 6, 2022/336, 2022/1529, 2023/571, 2023/1765 and 2024/849) (see paragraphs 194-205) |
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Common foreign and security policy – Restrictive measures taken in view of the situation in Ukraine – Freezing of funds of persons, entities or bodies providing material or financial support to Russian decision-makers or benefiting from those decision-makers, and natural or legal persons, entities or bodies associated with them – Restrictive measures not adopted by the Council against other persons, entities or bodies in an identical situation – No breach of the principle of equal treatment (Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP, as amended by Decisions (CFSP) 2022/337, (CFSP) 2022/1530, (CFSP) 2023/572, (CFSP) 2023/1767 and (CFSP) 2024/847; Council Regulations No 269/2014, 2022/336, 2022/1529, 2023/571, 2023/1765 and 2024/849) (see paragraphs 211-215) |
Operative part
The Court:
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Dismisses the action; |
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Orders Mr Alexander Ponomarenko to pay the costs. |