Action of annulment of restrictive measures under EU law: locus standi and legal grounds for annulment

Abstract

The adoption of restrictive measures by the EU following the events of February 24, 2022, naturally led to an increase in disputes before the CJEU related to the adoption of this type of measures, accounting for 103 of the 904 new General Court cases in 2022, and 63 of new cases in 2023. Furthermore, measures that were once predominantly aimed at combating nuclear proliferation and terrorism began to be adopted considering mainly political reasons. This trend has raised a number of questions about the main authors of the actions for annulment brought before the CJEU, as well as the legal grounds on which the most recent restrictive measures have been based. This article therefore aims to analyze the evolution of case law and answer some of these questions.