Judgment of the General Court (Seventh Chamber) of 18 September 2015 —
IOC-UK v Council
(Case T‑428/13)
Common foreign and security policy — Restrictive measures against Iran with the aim of preventing nuclear proliferation — Freezing of funds — Right to be heard — Obligation to state reasons — Rights of the defence — Manifest error of assessment — Proportionality — Right to property — Equal treatment and non-discrimination
1. Acts of the institutions — Statement of reasons — Obligation — Scope — Restrictive measures against Iran — Freezing of funds of persons, entities or bodies engaged in or supporting nuclear proliferation — Minimum requirements (Art. 296 TFEU; Council Decision 2013/270/CFSP; Council Regulation No 522/2013) (see paras 44-48, 56-58)
2. EU law — Principles — Rights of defence — Right to effective judicial protection — Restrictive measures against Iran — Freezing of funds of persons, entities or bodies engaged in or supporting nuclear proliferation — No right to be heard prior to the adoption of such measures — Rights guaranteed by judicial review exercised by the EU judicature and by the possibility of a hearing after the measures are taken — Obligation to disclose incriminating evidence — Scope (Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 47; Council Decision 2013/270/CFSP; Council Regulation No 522/2013) (see paras 49-52, 70-74, 82, 83)
3. Actions for annulment — Grounds — Lack of or inadequate statement of reasons — Separate ground from the one concerning substantive legality (Arts 263 TFEU and 296 TFEU) (see para. 54)
4. Common foreign and security policy — Restrictive measures against Iran — Freezing of funds of persons, entities or bodies engaged in or supporting nuclear proliferation — Obligation to extend that measure to entities owned or controlled by such an entity — Whether an entity is owned or controlled — Assessment by the Council on a case-by-case basis — Implementation of relevant provisions of European Union law — Council’s lack of discretion (Council Decisions 2010/413/CFSP, Art. 20(1)(c), and 2013/270/CFSP; Council Regulations No 267/2012, Art. 23(2)(d), and No 522/2013) (see paras 64, 66, 92-96, 98, 99, 103, 110)
5. EU law — Principles — Rights of defence — Restrictive measures against Iran — Freezing of funds of persons, entities or bodies engaged in or supporting nuclear proliferation — Right of access to documents — Right subject to request for access being made to the Council (Council Decision 2013/270/CFSP; Council Regulation No 522/2013) (see para. 77)
6. European Union — Judicial review of the legality of the acts of the institutions — Restrictive measures against Iran — Measures in the context of the fight against nuclear proliferation — Ambit of the review (Art. 275, second para., TFEU; Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 47; Council Decision 2013/270/CFSP; Council Regulation No 522/2013) (see paras 90, 91)
Re:
| APPLICATION for annulment, first, of Council Decision 2013/270/CFSP of 6 June 2013 amending Decision 2010/413/CFSP concerning restrictive measures against Iran (OJ 2013 L 156, p. 10), and, secondly, of Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No 522/2013 of 6 June 2013 implementing Regulation (EU) No 267/2012 concerning restrictive measures against Iran (OJ 2013 L 156, p. 3). |
Operative part
The Court:
2. | | Orders Iranian Oil Company UK Ltd (IOC-UK) to bear its own costs and to pay those incurred by the Council of the European Union; |
3. | | Orders the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to bear its own costs. |