Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'd like to thank our guests very much for attending this morning. Your testimony has been very helpful to us, with your very candid sense of CETA.
I need to pay tribute, if I might, to the negotiators from Canada and the EU in terms of how they have so professionally done this, particularly to Steve Verheul from Canada, and of course the EU negotiating team. I ask that you pass on our very kind regards and appreciation for all of their efforts.
I was struck, Madam Ambassador, by your very candid testimony. One of the questions I have is this. When I heard you talk about the EU as the world's largest economy.... And of course we know the gross domestic product is some $17 trillion, and the population is some 500 million. We accept that. A question that my constituents and constituent groups have asked us is, what is this big interest this massive economy has in dealing with Canada, with a population of some 34 million? That's not quite as big as the EU, but bragging rights nonetheless. I wonder if we could ask for your view on why the EU has had such a great interest in Canada, please.