Article 16 - Freedom to conduct a business
Article 17 - Right to property
Key facts of the case:
Appeal – Restrictive measures adopted in view of the Russian Federation’s actions destabilising the situation in Ukraine – Inclusion of the appellant’s name on the list of entities to which restrictive measures apply – Principle of proportionality – Right to property – Right to carry on an economic activity.
Outcome of the case:
On those grounds, the Court (Seventh Chamber) hereby:
13) By application lodged at the Registry of the General Court on 24 October 2014, the appellant brought an action for annulment of the acts at issue in so far as they concern it, relying upon four pleas in law. The first plea concerned an infringement of the obligation to state reasons, laid down in the second paragraph of Article 296 TFEU. The second plea alleged that the Council committed a manifest error of assessment and acted ultra vires when it included the appellant’s name on the lists in the annexes to the acts at issue. The third plea related to infringement of the appellant’s rights of defence and right to effective judicial review. Finally, the fourth plea alleged an infringement of the appellant’s fundamental rights, including the right to property and the right to carry on an economic activity enshrined in Articles 16 and 17 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (‘the Charter’). The appellant also advanced, on the basis of Article 277 TFEU, a plea of illegality in respect of Article 1 of the decision at issue and Article 5 of the regulation at issue.