European Union – Freedom of movement. The Court of Justice of the European Union gave a preliminary ruling, deciding that: (i) art 21 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and Directive (EC) 2004/38 should be interpreted as precluding national legislation which required a third-country national to be automatically refused the grant of a residence permit on the sole ground that he had a criminal record where he was the parent of a minor child who was a Union citizen and who was his dependant and resided with him in the host member state; and (ii) art 20 TFEU also precluded the same legislation.