BELGIUM Law and Practice Contributed by: Valerijus Ostrovskis, Bogdan Evtimov, Michael De Boeck and Coline Cauvin, ACQUIS
and designations of further vessels, intermediaries, and enablers of circumvention.
ing of the successful applicant. If the General Court upholds the listing, the individual or entity remains on the list with the same or updated reasons. Belgian courts follow the judgments of the EU courts. Compensation of Damages Alongside or following the annulment action, the indi - vidual or entity can file a claim for damages before the CJEU. The claim must demonstrate that the wrongful listing caused financial loss or other harm and estab - lish a causal link between the listing and the damages. If the court finds in favour of the applicant, it awards damages to compensate for the financial and non- material harm suffered. If the court rejects the claim, no compensation is awarded. 4.2 Remedies In the context of EU law, which is relevant for Belgian law, a de-listing challenge can achieve several signifi - cant outcomes. First, an individual or entity may be delisted by the Council of the European Union. This occurs when the Council of the European Union reviews evidence and decides to remove the individual or entity from the list, finding that the original reasons for listing are no longer valid or were incorrect. Second, the EU’s General Court may annul the indi - vidual listing, which can lead to delisting. If an indi - vidual or entity brings an action before the General Court, and the latter finds that the listing is unlawful, it can annul it. This annulment results in the individual or entity being delisted. Lastly, an individual may file an action for damages to the EU’s General Court. If the General Court deter - mines that the listing was unlawful and caused harm, it can award damages to compensate for the financial loss and other harm suffered due to the wrongful list - ing. Such damages have rarely been awarded, owing to the difficulty of meeting the legal tests for damages suffered and causality. 4.3 Timing In the EU legal system, which is relevant for Belgium, the minimum period in which delisting can occur is six to 12 months from the date of initial listing – some -
4. Delisting Challenges 4.1 Process Administrative Review by the Council of the European Union The individual or entity designated under EU sanc - tions may – within a time limit determined by the Council of the European Union – submit observations to the Council of the European Union, asking for a review or removal of their listing. Those observations are submitted only once and could include detailed reasons and supporting evidence explaining why the listing is no longer justified or why the circumstances have changed. The Council of the European Union reviews the obser - vations and considers the evidence provided as part of a general review for all listed persons from the same third country. If the Council of the European Union finds the arguments justified, it may decide to remove the individual or entity from the sanctions list. If the Council of the European Union rejects the request, the individual or entity remains on the sanctions list. The Council of the European Union must provide suf - ficient and concrete reasons for each (re-)listing deci - sion. Judicial Review by the CJEU The individual or entity can bring an action for annul - ment before the EU’s General Court in accordance with Articles 263, paragraph 4 and Article 275, para - graph 2 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the Euro - pean Union (TFEU). The applicant must argue that the listing is unlawful, presenting grounds such as viola - tions of fundamental rights, lack of sufficient Council of the European Union evidence, procedural errors, or errors of assessment. If the General Court finds the listing unlawful, it annuls the individual listing, which – in principle – should result in the individual’s or entity’s removal from the sanctions list. However, the Council of the European Union may find new reasons for maintaining the list -
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