CJEU - T-66/14 / Judgment

Bredenkamp and Others v Council and Commission
Policy area
Foreign and security policy
Deciding body type
Court of Justice of the European Union
Deciding body
General Court (Eighth Chamber)
Type
Decision
Decision date
21/07/2016
ECLI (European case law identifier)
ECLI:EU:T:2016:430
  • CJEU - T-66/14 / Judgment

    Key facts of the case:

    Common foreign and security policy — Restrictive measures imposed on certain persons and entities in view of the situation in Zimbabwe — Freezing of funds — Non-contractual liability

    Results (sanctions) and key consequences of the case:

    THE GENERAL COURT (Eighth Chamber) hereby:

    1. Dismisses the action;
    2. Orders John Arnold Bredenkamp, Echo Delta (Holdings) PCC Ltd, Scottlee Holdings (Private) Ltd and Fodya (Private) Ltd to pay the costs of the Council of the European Union and the European Commission.
  • Paragraphs referring to EU Charter
    1. As regards the applicants’ argument calling into question the assessment of the institutions concerned as to the first applicant’s association with the Zimbabwean Government, it should be noted, first of all, that the effectiveness of the judicial review guaranteed by Article 47 of the Charter requires that, as part of the review of the lawfulness of the grounds which are the basis of the decision to include a person’s name on the list of persons subject to restrictive measures, the Courts of the European Union are to ensure that that decision, which affects that person individually, has been taken on a sufficiently solid factual basis. That entails, in this instance, a verification of the factual allegations in the summary of reasons underpinning Regulations No 77/2009, No 173/2010 and No 174/2011, in order to review whether those reasons, or, at the very least, one of those reasons, deemed sufficient in itself to support those regulations, are substantiated (see, to this effect, judgment of 21 April 2015 in Anbouba v Council, C‑630/13 P, EU:C:2015:247, paragraph 46).