The European Parliament hearing came amid a small pro-Remain demonstration
Brexit negotiations are supposed to be stepped up soon but a small number of “Remainers” from “EUnites March for Europe” were in Brussels on Tuesday, campaigning to keep the UK inside the EU.
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Meanwhile, at the European Parliament, NGOs and immigration experts presented the concerns of the most affected citizens (the 3,2 million EU citizens in the UK and 1,2 million UK citizens in EU), namely rise in reports of discriminatory practices by entities such as job recruiting agencies, banks and landlords.
“As they do not know the new rules, they are already starting to discriminate in order to avoid the risk of hiring an European citizen, or renting an apartment to an European, or giving a bank loan,” said Ignacio Madariaga of “Surviving Brexit”.
The groups are pushing for greater representation in the Brexit process and want to address the European Parliament again before October’s EU summit.
Jan Doerfel, an immigration lawyer, said: “We believe there should be another open hearing where EU nationals in the UK can appear again, in front of the (EU) Parliament to give their opinion and we believe that should be happening at the end of September.”