  An unbiased estimate of the average intrinsic X-ray properties and column
density distribution of Seyfert galaxies in the local Universe is crucial to
validate unified models of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and to synthesis
models for the X-ray background. We present here preliminary results obtained
from an on-going XMM-Newton study (~250 ks awarded in the EPIC GT) on a
well-defined, statistically complete, and significant sample of nearby Seyfert
galaxies.
