European Union – Citizenship. The concept of a 'direct descendant' of a citizen of the EU referred to in art 2(2)(c) of Directive (EC) 2004/38, amending Regulation (EEC) No 1612/68 and repealing certain other Directives, had to be interpreted as not including a child who had been placed in the permanent legal guardianship of a citizen of the Union under the Algerian 'kafala' system, because that placement did not create any parent-child relationship between them. However, it was for the competent national authorities to facilitate the entry and residence of such a child as one of the other family members of a citizen of the Union pursuant to art 3(2)(a) of that directive, read in the light of arts 7 and 24(2) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. The Court of Justice of the European Union so held in a preliminary ruling in proceedings concerning the refusal of the Entry Clearance Officer, UK Visa Section, to grant the applicant child entry clearance for the territory of the UK as an adopted child of a national of the European Economic Area.