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Political carve-up?

September 28, 2009

Spain is calling on Brussels to intervene in the restructuring of General Motors' European unit Opel amid fears that a politicized carve-up may lead to mass layoffs in car plants across the continent.

https://p.dw.com/p/JsG4
A stop sign near an opel production line
Image: picture-alliance/ dpa

The Financial Times newspaper reports that Spanish Industry Minister Miguel Sebastian wrote to European commissioners asking them to guarantee Opel's rescue is based on "financial and commercial" criteria.

Sebastian insisted that any reorganization by Opel's planned new owners, Canadian auto parts group Magna International, must "make best possible use of the company's assets."

The newspaper suggests that is a veiled reference to Opel's factory in the northern Spanish city of Zaragoza, which, according to leaked GM documents, is listed as one of the most efficient in Europe.

Belgium, Spain, Britain and Poland have all expressed concern that Opel's sale to Magna would see them at a disadvantage compared to Germany, which is backing the deal with 4.5 billion euros (US$ 6.6 billion) in state aid.

Officials in Berlin have defended the controversial funding after a series of complaints of possible political interference, saying Germany would bear the brunt of European job losses.

According to details leaked to German media, Magna is poised to slash around 11,000 jobs from Opel's 45,000-strong European workforce, including roughly 4,000 from some 25,000 in Germany.

Report: sje/Reuters/dpa
Editor: Susan Houlton