Order of the General Court (Eighth Chamber) of 15 February 2016 —
Ezz and Others v Council

(Case T‑279/13)

Action for annulment — Common foreign and security policy — Restrictive measures taken in view of the situation in Egypt — Measures taken against persons responsible for misappropriation of State funds and against associated persons and entities — Freezing of funds — Inclusion of the applicants on the list of persons targeted — Legal basis — Failure to fulfil the criteria for listing — Error of law — Error of fact — Right to property — Damage to reputation — Rights of the defence — Right to effective judicial protection — Obligation to state reasons — Amendment of the claims and pleas in law — Lis pendens — Action in part manifestly inadmissible and in part manifestly lacking any foundation in law

1.                     Judicial proceedings — Objection of lis pendens — Same parties, subject-matter and submissions in two actions — Inadmissibility of the second action (see paras 22, 28, 30)

2.                     Judicial proceedings — Pleas in the application — Modification in the course of proceedings — Assimilation to the bringing of an action by means of an application (see para. 23)

3.                     Actions for annulment — Interest in bringing proceedings — Concept — Action capable of securing a benefit for the applicant — Interest having to subsist until the delivery of the court decision (Art. 263, fourth para., TFEU) (see para. 32)

4.                     Actions for annulment — Admissibility — Dismissal of an action on the substance without ruling on admissibility — Discretion of the Courts of the Union (Art. 263 TFEU) (see para. 38)

5.                     Judicial proceedings — Application initiating proceedings — Formal requirements — Brief summary of the pleas in law on which the application is based — Pleas in law not set out in the application — Reference to the whole of the annexes — Inadmissibility (Statute of the Court of Justice, Arts 21, first para., and 53, first para.; Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 76(d)) (see para. 74)

Re:

APPLICATION for annulment, first, of Council Decision 2011/172/CFSP of 21 March 2011 concerning restrictive measures directed against certain persons, entities and bodies in view of the situation in Egypt (OJ 2011 L 76, p. 63), as amended by Council Decision 2013/144/CFSP of 21 March 2013 (OJ 2013 L 82, p. 54), and, second, of Council Regulation (EU) No 270/2011 of 21 March 2011 ‘renewed by decision of the Council notified to the applicants by letter dated 22 March 2013’ concerning restrictive measures directed against certain persons, entities and bodies in view of the situation in Egypt (OJ 2011 L 76, p. 4), in so far as those acts concern the applicants.

Operative part

1. The action is dismissed.

2. Ahmed Abdelaziz Ezz, Abla Mohammed Fawzi Ali Ahmed Salama, Khadiga Ahmed Ahmed Kamel Yassin and Shahinaz Abdel Azizabdel Wahab Al Naggar are ordered to bear their own costs and, in addition, pay the costs incurred by the Council of the European Union.