CJEU - C-440/14 P / Judgment

National Iranian Oil Company v Council
Policy area
Economic and monetary affairs
External relations
External trade
Foreign and security policy
Deciding body type
Court of Justice of the European Union
Deciding body
Grand Chamber
Type
Decision
Decision date
01/03/2016
ECLI (European case law identifier)
ECLI:EU:C:2016:128
  • CJEU - C-440/14 P / Judgment

    Key facts of the case:

    Appeal — Restrictive measures against the Islamic Republic of Iran — List of persons and entities subject to the freezing of funds and economic resources — Implementing Regulation (EU) No 945/2012 — Legal basis — Criterion relating to the material, logistical or financial support for the Government of Iran

    Results (sanctions) and key consequences of the case:

    On those grounds, the Court (Grand Chamber) hereby:

    1. Dismisses the appeal;
    2. Orders National Iranian Oil Company to bear its own costs and to pay the costs of the Council of the European Union;
    3. Orders the European Commission to bear its own costs.
  • Paragraphs referring to EU Charter
    1. By the second part of the second ground, NIOC cites paragraph 48 of the judgment in Parliament v Council (C‑130/10, EU:C:2012:472), which states that the procedures provided for in Articles 75 TFEU and 215 TFEU are incompatible, and argues that the same is true for the procedures provided for in Articles 215 TFEU and 291(2) TFEU. As regards the latter provision, it does not specify the procedure for the adoption of acts, so that it could not be used as a substitute for Article 215 TFEU. In any case, if those two provisions of the FEU Treaty were to be considered interchangeable, the result would be two different sets of rules for adopting restrictive measures, giving rise to inequality between the persons concerned by such measures, which would infringe the principle of equality of treatment provided for in Article 20 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.