166Finally, in his written pleadings and at the hearing, the applicant, relying, first, on the judgment of 16 October 2014, LTTE v Council (T‑208/11 and T‑508/11, under appeal, EU:T:2014:885), and, secondly, on the Opinion of Advocate General Sharpston in Council v LTTE (C‑599/14 P, EU:C:2016:723), submitted that the Council must, before acting on the basis of a decision of an authority of a third State, carefully verify that the relevant legislation of that State ensures protection of the rights of defence and a right to effective judicial protection equivalent to that guaranteed at EU level. According to the applicant, there is no reason to assume that the level of protection of fundamental rights guaranteed in Ukraine is at least equivalent to that in the European Union. It therefore falls to the Council to ascertain whether the Ukrainian legal system guarantees such protection.