Case T‑732/14

Sberbank of Russia OAO

v

Council of the European Union

(Common foreign and security policy — Restrictive measures adopted in view of Russia’s actions destabilising the situation in Ukraine — Applicant’s name included and retained in the list of entities to which the restrictive measures apply — Error of assessment — Obligation to state reasons — Rights of the defence — Right to effective judicial protection — Right to property — Right to carry on an economic activity)

Summary — Judgment of the General Court (Sixth Chamber), 13 September 2018

  1. Actions for annulment — Natural or legal persons — Measures of direct and individual concern to them — Whether directly concerned — Criteria — Restrictive measures taken having regard to the situation in Ukraine — Acts prohibiting all EU operators from carrying out certain types of financial transaction with credit institutions established in Russia included in the lists of entities subject to restrictive measures — Action brought by a credit institution included in those lists — Whether admissible

    (Art. 263, 4th para. TFEU; Council Decision 2014/512/CFSP, Art. 1(1)(a) and Annex I; Council Regulation No 833/2014, Art. 5(1)(a) and Annex III)

  2. European Union — Judicial review of the legality of the acts of the institutions — Restrictive measures taken having regard to the situation in Ukraine — Scope of the review

    (Art. 275, 2nd para. TFEU; Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 47; Council Decision 2014/512/CFSP; Council Regulation No 833/2014)

  3. EU law — Interpretation — Texts in several languages — Differences between the various language versions — Account to be taken of the overall scheme and purpose of the legislation in question

  4. Common foreign and security policy — Restrictive measures taken having regard to the situation in Ukraine — Criteria for adopting restrictive measures — Major credit institution, or other major institution having an explicit mandate to promote competitiveness of the Russian economy, its diversification and encouragement of investment — Concept — Cumulative nature of the status of major credit institution and the existence of such a mandate — None

    (Art. 215 TFEU; Council Decision 2014/512/CFSP, Art. 1(1)(a); Council Regulation No 833/2014, Art. 5(1)(a))

  5. Acts of the institutions — Statement of reasons — Obligation — Scope — Restrictive measures taken having regard to the situation in Ukraine — Restrictions on access to the EU capital market — 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 to understand the scope of the measure taken against him — Whether summary statement of reasons permissible

    (Art. 296, 2nd para. TFEU; Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 41(2)(c); Council Decision 2014/512/CFSP; Council Regulation No 833/2014)

  6. EU law — Principles — Rights of defence — Right to effective judicial protection — Restrictive measures taken having regard to the situation in Ukraine — Restrictions on access to the EU capital market — Obligation to disclose incriminating evidence — Scope — Unlawfulness of the act depending on proving the procedural relevance of the infringement of the obligation

    (Art. 275, 2nd para. TFEU; Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 41(2)(a) and 47; Council Decision 2014/512/CFSP; Council Regulation No 833/2014)

  7. Common foreign and security policy — Restrictive measures taken having regard to the situation in Ukraine — Restrictions on access to the EU capital market — Rights of defence — Notification of incriminating evidence — Subsequent decision maintaining the name of the applicant on the list of persons subject to 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 2014/512/CFSP, Art. 1(1)(a) and Annex I; Council Regulation No 833/2014, Art. 5(1)(a) and Annex III)

  8. EU law — Principles — Rights of defence — Restrictive measures taken having regard to the situation in Ukraine — Restrictions on access to the EU capital market — Right of access to documents — Rights subject to an application in that behalf before the Council — Duty to act within a reasonable time

    (Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 41(2)(a); Council Decision 2014/512/CFSP; Council Regulation No 833/2014)

  9. Common foreign and security policy — Restrictive measures taken having regard to the situation in Ukraine — Restrictions on access to the EU capital market — Restriction of the right to property and of the freedom to pursue an economic activity, and damage to reputation — Breach of principle of proportionality — None

    (Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Arts 16, 17 and 52(1); Council Decision 2014/512/CFSP; Council Regulation No 833/2014)

  10. Common foreign and security policy — Restrictive measures taken having regard to the situation in Ukraine — Restrictions on access to the EU capital market — Judicial review of legality — Appropriateness of the restrictive measures — Restrictive measures pursuing a legitimate aim of the common foreign and security policy

    (Art. 21 TEU; Council Decision 2014/512/CFSP; Council Regulation No 833/2014)

  1.  The condition that there must be direct concern to a natural or legal person, as laid down in the fourth paragraph of Article 263 TFEU, requires the contested EU measure to affect directly the legal situation of the individual and leave no discretion to its addressees, who are entrusted with the task of implementing it, such implementation being purely automatic and resulting from EU rules without the application of other intermediate rules.

    A credit institution listed in the annexes to Decision 2014/512/CFSP and to Regulation No 833/2014, concerning restrictive measures in view of Russia’s actions destabilising the situation in Ukraine, is directly concerned by the restrictive measures prohibiting all EU operators from carrying out certain types of financial transaction with credit institutions established in Russia which satisfy the conditions laid down in Article 1(1)(a) of that decision and Article 5(1)(a) of that regulation, and the names of which are listed in those annexes. Those measures apply directly to it, as an immediate consequence of the fact that it is an entity covered by those provisions, read in the light of the corresponding annexes, without leaving any discretion to their addressees, who are entrusted with the task of implementing them.

    Although those provisions lay down prohibitions which apply in the first place to credit institutions and other financial bodies established in the European Union, the aim and the effect of those prohibitions is directly to affect the entities whose name is listed in the annexes to those acts, whose economic activity is limited as a result of the application of those measures in respect of them. Self-evidently it is for the bodies established in the European Union to apply those measures, given that the acts adopted by the EU institutions are not, as a rule, intended to apply outside the territory of the European Union. That does not, however, mean that the entities affected by the provisions on access to the capital market are not directly concerned by the restrictive measures applied with regard to them.

    (see paras 57-60, 62)

  2.  See the text of the decision.

    (see para. 74)

  3.  See the text of the decision.

    (see para. 81)

  4.  The objective of Article 5(1) of the Regulation No 833/2014, concerning restrictive measures in view of Russia’s actions destabilising the situation in Ukraine, is, in accordance with Article 215 TFEU, the adoption of measures necessary to give effect to Article 1(1) of Decision 2014/2014/512/CFSP. The terms of that regulation must be interpreted, so far as possible, in the light of that decision. Since Article 1(1)(a) of that decision refers to ‘major credit institutions or finance development institutions established in Russia’, there is an alternative between ‘major credit institutions’ and ‘finance development institutions’, the latter being defined more precisely in Article 5(1)(a) of that regulation as being ‘other major institution having an explicit mandate to promote competitiveness of the Russian economy, its diversification and encouragement of investment’. In order to be able to listed in Annex III to Regulation No 833/2014, a major credit institution does not, in addition to satisfying the other conditions laid down in Article 5(1)(a) of that regulation, therefore also have to have an ‘explicit mandate to promote competitiveness of the Russian economy, its diversification and encouragement of investment’, within the meaning of that provision.

    (see paras 82-84)

  5.  See the text of the decision.

    (see paras 92, 93, 97, 99, 100, 102-104, 106)

  6.  See the text of the decision.

    (see paras 110-113, 116, 118, 121, 122, 125)

  7.  See the text of the decision.

    (see paras 127, 128)

  8.  See the text of the decision.

    (see paras 129, 131)

  9.  See the text of the decision.

    (see paras 139-143, 146, 147, 150-157)

  10.  See the text of the decision.

    (see para. 145)