Thank you, Chair.
I appreciate the witnesses' being here.
My questions are going to be primarily for the EU.
And to Mr. Drexhage, thank you for being here. You may want to forge in.
First of all, I want to assure you that your comments are being received in a political environment in which the government is hoping to move forward in dealing with the very important issue of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. We've committed to doing that. And as my colleague Mr. Jean mentioned, we're looking forward to your recommendations on how to strengthen Bill C-30, the government's bill to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to clean the air that Canadians breathe.
I'm tempted to correct some of the comments made by Mr. McGuinty, but I'll save that for the House and get down to business today.
Concerning the EU's experience in curbing greenhouse gas emissions through voluntary versus mandatory means, the history in previous governments in Canada is that they've used the voluntary means, and we have not found that successful. As you are aware, we are now 35% above the Kyoto targets of 6% below 1990 levels--35% above. So we're in a very difficult situation, and we're looking forward to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
I really appreciate the positive comments you've made. You've acknowledged that it's a major industrial challenge, but you're happy to take that challenge on. And we are happy to take the challenge on here in Canada.
But specifically on mandatory measures, how did you find the importance of moving to mandatory, which is what the government plans to do, to move from voluntary to mandatory? What was the experience in the EU?