66As a preliminary point, although the applicant does not formally raise a plea of illegality under Article 277 TFEU, it should be noted that it does contend in essence that Article 7 of Regulation No 2004/2003, which provided the basis on which the contested decision was adopted, conflicts with the general principle of legal certainty. In that regard, it should be pointed out that there is no requirement under EU law for a plea of illegality to be raised formally (see, to that effect, judgments of 15 September 2016, Yanukovych v Council, T‑346/14, EU:T:2016:497, paragraph 56, and of 15 September 2016, Yanukovych v Council, T‑348/14, EU:T:2016:508, paragraph 57). Case-law gives grounds for considering that a plea of illegality has been raised implicitly where it is relatively clear from the application that the applicant is in fact making such a plea (judgment of 6 June 1996, Baiwir v Commission, T‑262/94, EU:T:1996:75, paragraph 37). In the present case, it is clear from the analysis of paragraph 44 et seq. of the application that the applicant implicitly raises a plea of illegality. Moreover, it is clear from paragraph 33 of the defence that the Parliament was able to understand fully the scope of the complaint raised by the applicant. It is therefore necessary to examine the substance of the second plea.
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