Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I want to also thank our invited guests for coming here from the European Parliament.
I know a little bit about the European Parliament and the system, not just because of the fact that I'm a European citizen, but also because of the fact that I studied international law. So I have a little bit of understanding and appreciation of what happens in the commission and the politics that happen.
Europe represents our second-largest trading nation. For the European Union, we are fourth, I think. So there's a lot of room there for growth, because it's only about 8% of trade that Canada has with the European Union. I guess our fear, the concern of a lot of sectors in Canada as we go into further negotiations with European member states and free trade, has to do more with the fact that the Europeans tend to have, in some sectors, a very closed shop or very protectionist policies in place.
We are afraid that if we go into further negotiations, even though I'm very much in favour of European free trade with Canada, too many of your sectors will be very protected and will leave Canadian companies at a disadvantage.
Maybe you could explain to us, from the politics around Europe, if there is a protectionist mood in these negotiations on trade.