Again, whether I'm optimistic or not, I think the commission is the one sitting at the negotiating table. They are able to give a better view. Politically, the commitment is there. I cannot see any political obstacles whatsoever in this.
It is true, and sometimes it's difficult to explain, that we need to balance the political commitment to having this agreement approved with having every single technicality approved in areas that might be delicate, such as procurement, for example. It is not enough to say that we want it, that we are great friends, and that we want to work together if we are not able to reach an agreement in very specific and detailed areas, which can be more delicate.
I know that a concern for us, for the EU--I know that it's being managed, and we've been informed of the details of how it is being managed--is the duality of legitimate power within Canada, if we can put it this way, in constitutional terms. Whatever is committed and negotiated needs to apply to the whole of Canada, independent of the internal political distribution you might have. Otherwise, it would be difficult, and that's exactly what you will have on the other side.
As I was saying, whatever is negotiated with the European Union, you will not have the Czech Republic saying that it doesn't apply there. If it is negotiating, you have the Czech Republic, you have the Spanish regional government of Catalonia, and you have whoever will be involved once the commission signs and makes a deal. That's our way.
You have your own way. You have your own constitution, and of course nobody wants to interfere with that from the outside. However, we need to find a way so that whatever is negotiated applies to Canada, to whomever can talk on behalf of Canada, and to whomever is on the other side of the Canadian border. You know very much what I'm talking about. Those sorts of things need to be negotiated. If this is all properly solved, I think we can be very optimistic.