46As regards, first of all, the Council’s allegedly exceeding the bounds of its discretion, it should first be borne in mind that when it is fixing TACs and allocating fishing opportunities among the Member States, the Council has to evaluate a complex economic situation. In such circumstances, the Council’s discretion is not limited to the nature and scope of the measures to be taken but extends, to some degree, to the finding of the basic facts. In reviewing the exercise of such a power, the Court must confine itself to examining whether there has been a manifest error or misuse of power or whether the authority in question has clearly exceeded the bounds of its discretion (see to that effect, judgments of 19 February 1998, NIFPO and Northern Ireland Fishermen’s Federation, C‑4/96, EU:C:1998:67, paragraphs 41 and 42; 5 October 1999, Spain v Council, C‑179/95, EU:C:1999:476, paragraph 29; and 9 September 2004, Spain v Commission, C‑304/01, EU:C:2004:495, paragraph 23).
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