If you look at what this agreement's trying to address, are we saying that currently multinational corporations and international investment are being severely restricted in their power; that mobility of capital isn't taking place, both in our country and around the world; that governments are demanding too much from multinational corporations and investors in terms of locating in the various societies; that Canada is severely restrictive in terms of regulating investment coming into Canada, demanding too much from foreign investors; and that Canadian investors are severely restricted from investing in other countries?

43. Calls on the Commission, in particular its DG Trade, to move from a ‘passive’ to an ’active’ approach to the OECD Guidelines, inter alia by applying to adhere to the OECD Declaration on International Investment and Multinational Enterprises, which includes the OECD Guidelines, ensuring the promotion of, and continuous support for, the OECD Guidelines by the EU’s Delegations in third countries, funding capacity-building initiatives in conjunction with businesses, trade unions and civil society in third countries in relation to the implementation of the Guidelines, and ensuring that the Guidelines are specifically cited in all new agre ...[+++]ements between the EU and third countries, including all trade and investment treaties; calls for the EU to mount a major diplomatic effort to persuade more countries internationally to become signatories and to provide civil society groups with concrete support for raising ‘specific instances’ of alleged breaches, in cooperation with Member States;

– having regard to the OECD Declaration on International Investment and Multinational Enterprises and Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises (update of 25 May 2011),

The investment package comprises two documents: First, the policy paper 'Towards a comprehensive European international investment policy', which explores how best investment policy can contribute to smart, sustainable and inclusive growth - the goals of the Europe 2020 Strategy.

It is very important for Canada to be at the MAI table not only for the purposes of attracting foreign investment to Canada, which is about jobs and economic activity, but there is as much investment by Canadians abroad as we have investment coming in.

In regard to trade and investment, again, we note the failure of the multilateral agreement on investment, but we still feel that there are benefits to be gained out of having strengthened rules for international investment, whereby those rules are known and consistently applied, policies are transparent, and disputes are settled through agreed procedures.