Case C-340/08

The Queen, on the application of:

M and Others

v

Her Majesty’s Treasury

(Reference for a preliminary ruling from the House of Lords)

(Common foreign and security policy – Restrictive measures taken against persons and entities associated with Usama bin Laden, the Al-Qaeda network and the Taliban – Freezing of funds and economic resources – Regulation (EC) No 881/2002 – Article 2(2) – Prohibition of making funds available to the persons listed in Annex I to that regulation – Scope – Social security and social assistance benefits paid to the spouse of a person included in Annex I)

Summary of the Judgment

1.        European Union law – Interpretation – Texts in several languages – Regulation No 881/2002 – Differences between the various language versions

(Council Regulation No 881/2002, as amended by Council Regulation No 561/2003)

2.        European Union – Common foreign and security policy – Restrictive measures taken against persons and entities associated with Usama bin Laden, the Al-Qaeda network and the Taliban – Regulation No 881/2002

(Council Regulation No 881/2002, as amended by Regulation No 561/2003, Art. 2(2))

1.        Where there is divergence between the various language versions of a Community text, the provision in question must be interpreted by reference to the purpose and general scheme of the rules of which it forms part.

For the purpose of interpreting Regulation No 881/2002 imposing certain specific restrictive measures directed against certain persons and entities associated with Usama bin Laden, the Al-Qaeda network and the Taliban, as amended by Regulation No 561/2003, account must also be taken of the wording and purpose of Resolution 1390 (2002) of the United Nations Security Council which that regulation, according to recital 4 in the preamble thereto, is designed to implement. In addition, in construing a provision of secondary European Union law, such as that regulation, preference must as far as possible be given to the interpretation that renders the provision consistent with the general principles of European Union law and, more specifically, with the principle of legal certainty. That principle requires legislation, such as Regulation No 881/2002, which imposes restrictive measures having considerable impact on the rights and freedoms of designated persons to be clear and precise so that the persons concerned, including third parties, may know unambiguously their rights and duties and take measures accordingly.

(see paras 44-45, 64-65)

2.        Article 2(2) of Regulation No 881/2002 imposing certain specific restrictive measures directed against certain persons and entities associated with Usama bin Laden, the Al-Qaeda network and the Taliban, as amended by Regulation No 561/2003, must be construed as not applying to the provision by the State of social security or social assistance benefits to the spouse of a person designated by the committee created pursuant to Paragraph 6 of Resolution 1267 (1999) of the Security Council of the United Nations and included in the list in Annex I to that regulation, on the grounds only that the spouse lives with that person and will or may use some of those payments to pay for goods and services which the designated person also will consume or from which he also will benefit.

It is hard to imagine how those funds could be turned into means that could be used to support terrorist activities, especially because the benefits at issue are fixed at a level intended to meet only the strictly vital needs of the persons concerned.

(see paras 61, 74, operative part)