Judgment of the General Court (Third Chamber) of 14 January 2015 — Gossio v Council

(Case T‑406/13)

Common Foreign and Security Policy — Specific restrictive measures directed against certain persons and entities in view of the situation in Côte d’Ivoire — Freezing of funds — Misuse of power — Manifest error of assessment — Fundamental Rights

1.                     Judicial proceedings — Decision or regulation replacing the contested measure in the course of proceedings — New factor — Extension of the initial pleadings (Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 48(2)) (see para. 31)

2.                     Actions for annulment — Actionable measures — Concept — Measure purely confirmatory of an existing measure — Not included — Conditions — Measure not containing any new element in relation to the existing measure — Requirement not met (Art. 263 TFEU) (see paras 35, 37)

3.                     Actions for annulment — Grounds — Misuse of powers — Concept (see para. 46)

4.                     European Union — Judicial review of the legality of the acts of the institutions — Restrictive measures against Côte d’Ivoire — Freezing of funds of certain persons and bodies in view of the situation in Côte d’Ivoire — Judicial review — Scope — Restricted review for general rules — Review extending to the assessment of facts and verification of evidence for measures applying to specific entities (Council Regulation No 560/2005, Art. 11a(1) and (2); Council Decision 2010/656/CFSP, Art. 7(1) and (2)) (see paras 55-57)

5.                     Acts of the institutions — Statement of reasons — Obligation — Scope — Fund-freezing decision against certain persons and bodies in view of the situation in Côte d’Ivoire and decision renewing those measures — Minimum requirements (Art. 296 TFEU; Council Regulation No 560/2005; Council Decisions 2010/656/CFSP and 2012/144/CFSP) (see para. 70)

6.                     EU law — Principles — Fundamental rights — Presumption of innocence — Fund-freezing decision against certain persons and bodies in view of the situation in Côte d’Ivoire — Compatibility with that principle — Conditions (Art. 6(1) TEU; Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 48(1); Council Regulation No 560/2005; Council Decision 2010/656/CFSP) (see paras 93, 94)

7.                     Common foreign and security policy — Restrictive measures against Côte d’Ivoire — Freezing of funds of certain persons and bodies in view of the situation in Côte d’Ivoire — Restriction on the right to property and the freedom to run a business — No breach of principle of proportionality (Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Arts 16, 17 and 52(1); Council Regulation No 560/2005; Council Decision 2010/656/CFSP) (see paras 100-113)

8.                     Common foreign and security policy — Restrictive measures against Côte d’Ivoire — Freezing of funds of certain persons and bodies in view of the situation in Côte d’Ivoire — Restriction on the right to respect for private and family life, the right to human dignity and the right to the prohibition of inhuman and degrading treatment — No breach of principle of proportionality (Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Arts 1, 4, 7 and 52(1)) (see paras 116-120)

Re:

APPLICATION for annulment, first, of Council Regulation (EC) No 560/2005 of 12 April 2005 imposing certain specific restrictive measures directed against certain persons and entities in view of the situation in Côte d’Ivoire (OJ 2005 L 95, p. 1), Council Decision 2010/656/CFSP of 29 October 2010 renewing the restrictive measures against Côte d’Ivoire (OJ 2010 L 285, p. 28), and Council Implementing Decision 2012/144/CFSP of 8 March 2012 implementing Decision 2010/656 (OJ 2012 L 71, p. 50) insofar as they concern the applicant, and, second, of the Council’s decision of 17 May 2013 to maintain the restrictive measures relating to the applicant.

Operative part

The Court:

1. Annuls Council Implementing Decision 2014/271/CFSP of 12 May 2014 implementing Decision 2010/656/CFSP renewing the restrictive measures against Côte d’Ivoire and Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No 479/2014 of 12 May 2014 implementing Regulation (EC) No 560/2005 imposing certain specific restrictive measures directed against certain persons and entities in view of the situation in Côte d’Ivoire in so far as they relate to the applicant;

2. Dismisses the action as to the remainder;

3. Orders each party to bear its own costs.