On 13 November 2017, the Council of the European Union adopted Regulation (EU) 2017/2063 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Venezuela.
On 6 February 2018, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela brought an action before the General Court for annulment against the Regulation, in so far as its provisions concern it.
In its judgment of 20 September 2019, the General Court held that the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela had not demonstrated that it was directly concerned by the measures within the meaning of the fourth paragraph of Article 263 TFEU. It decided that the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela lacked the necessary standing to maintain its annulment action and the proceedings were accordingly held by the General Court to be inadmissible on that basis.
The present case concerns an appeal brought on 28 November 2019 by the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela against the judgment of the General Court.
In his Opinion dated 20 January 2021, Advocate General Gerard Hogan proposes that the Court of Justice should rule that the General Court erred in law in so far as it held that the present proceedings were inadmissible for want of standing on the part of the appellant for the purposes of the fourth paragraph of Article 263 TFEU.
The Advocate-General also suggests that the present proceedings should be remitted to the General Court so that it can proceed to adjudicate on all remaining admissibility issues arising in the annulment proceedings brought by the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and on the substance of its action.
Vide the opinion of the Advocate General: