GM's Opel sale faces more hurdles
September 14, 2009
By Reuters Frankfurt and Brussels
A Canadian-Russian consortium's plan to buy vehicle manufacturer Opel from General Motors (GM) faces more hurdles after scrutiny of German state aid intensified and labour leaders demanded a veto over job cuts.
The skirmishing on two fronts posed headaches for Canadian automotive supplier Magna and its Russian allies in what has become a politically fraught deal to rebuild loss-making Opel into a power on global car markets.
Former Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt said he had asked European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso to ensure that the deal did not favour Germany over other countries that also host GM plants.
The issue will be raised today when the European Parliament debates the Opel deal at the request of Verhofstadt, the leader of the Liberals.
The EU's Competition Commissioner, Neelie Kroes, and Industry Commissioner Gėnter Verheugen will attend.
"Financial aid given by a country that guarantees that the factories in their country don't close is against EU rules," Verhofstadt said, complaining that the European Commission rather than Germany should have run the Opel negotiations.
GM agreed this week to sell a 55 percent stake in Opel to Magna and Russia's Sberbank, finally bowing to Berlin's wishes after months of talks.
Its decision to pick Magna over rival RHJ, a Belgian financial investor, was a political boon to Chancellor Angela Merkel ahead of an election on September 27. Merkel had loudly backed Magna's bid and promised state aid to clinch it.
Germany is putting up E4.5 billion (R48.9bn) in state guarantees to grease a deal it hopes will preserve jobs in Germany, where half of Opel's workforce is based.
Other European countries are expected to contribute to the aid, but amounts are not set while they await details of where plants and jobs will go.
Magna's original plan called for cutting around 10 000 of Opel's 50 000 workers, with 2 500 cuts earmarked in Germany. But German magazine Der Spiegel reported on Saturday that in fact Magna planned to cut 3 000 assembly line jobs and another 1 100 white-collar posts in Germany.
German Economy Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg told the Bild am Sonntag that he expected more job cuts.
That sets up a clash between Opel and labour, which opposes any forced lay-offs or plant closures in Europe.
Magna has said it could close the Antwerp plant in Belgium and the Luton factory in Britain if it has no luck in luring new contracts.
Opel workers, set to take a 10 percent stake in Opel, would insist on a big say in how the company runs things.
The European Commission said last week that it would keep a close eye on the Opel deal to ensure it met EU rules.
|
|
