Venezuela May Continue Challenging Illegal Blockade Imposed by the European Union

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled this Tuesday that Venezuela is entitled to challenge the unilateral and restrictive measures imposed on it by the old continental supremacist bloc.

With the ruling, the highest European court annulled the judgment of the General Court in which an appeal filed by Venezuela was declared inadmissible. With the appeal, Venezuela had requested the annulment of the illegal sanctions, and argued that it was “affected by its provisions.”

The case
In 2017, after the violent street riots know as guarimbas, led by the Venezuelan extreme right, the Council of the European Union adopted restrictive measures against Venezuela. Articles 2, 3, 6 and 7 of Regulation 2017/2063 established, in particular, the prohibition of selling or supplying to any individual or corporation as well as entities or bodies in Venezuela, equipment, services and technologies.

On February 6, 2018, Venezuela filed a motion for annulment to the extent that it was affected by the provisions of the restrictive measures.

Subsequently, Venezuela adapted its request so that it also had as its object Decision 2018/1656 and Implementing Regulation 2018/1653, two acts by which the Council had extended the restrictive measures adopted, in accordance with the provisions of the express communication issued this June 22. By means of a judgment of September 20, 2019, the General Court declared the appeal inadmissible, claiming that the disputed provisions did not directly affect the legal situation of Venezuela, but the reality was quite the opposite.

This legal decision marks a victory for the strategy developed by the Maduro administration to combat the US and European blockade at all levels including legal, informational, political, and diplomatic.

An error
The European Court of Justice declared that the General Court erred in law when it judged that the restrictive measures in question did not directly affect the legal situation of Venezuela. In this regard, CJEU indicated that the measures adopted against Venezuela prohibiting EU operators from carrying out certain transactions was tantamount to prohibiting Venezuela from carrying out such operations with those operators.

The CJEU also concluded that the blockade against Venezuela can “harm “its interests, “especially economic ones,” and that “its annulment may in itself bring a benefit.”

The Court of Justice concluded that Venezuela is thus effectively entitled to challenge the coercive measures on the basis of this provision.

Featured image: European Union’s Court of Justice headquarters. File photo.

(RedRadioVE) by Daniela Jimenez, with Orinoco Tribune content

Translation: Orinoco Tribune

OT/JRE/SL