European Union – Freedom of movement. The Court of Justice of the European Union made a preliminary ruling concerning the interpretation of arts 20, 21(1) and 45 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and Directive (EC) 2004/38 of the European Parliament and of the Council (on the right of citizens of the Union and their family members to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States) amending Regulation (EEC) 1612/68 and repealing various other directives. The request had been made in two sets of proceedings between the Netherlands Minister for Immigration, Integration and Asylum (the Minister), on the one hand, and, respectively, Ms S. and Ms G., third‑country nationals and family members of a European Union citizen of Netherlands nationality, on the other, concerning the Minister's refusal to grant them a certificate of lawful residence as a family member of a Union citizen in the Netherlands.