Brussels, 27/05/2009 (Agence Europe) - A further ministerial meeting is to be organised in order to seek to coordinate salvage of General Motors (GM) plants in Europe (the American car maker owns Opel in Germany, Vauxhall in Great Britain and SAAB in Sweden). The meeting, for which a date has still to be set, is expected to bring together EU economy or industry ministers, a Commission spokesman confirmed on Wednesday 27 May. During a meeting of the same kind in March, ministers of several European countries had undertaken not to take national measures without prior information or coordination among themselves, in order to protect the internal market (EUROPE 9862). Little has been done, however, to this end. The German government, which is very directly involved in talks on the future of Opel, has taken things in hand on its own. The Belgian government, which is keen to have a truly European solution, has nonetheless called on the European Commission to once more encourage countries where GM factories are established to also become involved in the talks (Opel has a factory in Antwerp). Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy sent a letter along these lines to President Barroso on Tuesday, as well as to Industry Commissioner Günter Verheugen and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. “A one-country solution for a truly European-based company seems not in line with the idea of a European Union and its legislation”, the letter reads.
“Governments concerned are invited to take part in the process”, José Manuel Barroso pointed out on Wednesday, saying however that “the German authorities have shown more ambition in this process to help find a solution”. The Commission is “in contact with all member states concerned”, the Commission president assured on the sidelines of a press conference. In his view, the fate of Opel is “not simply a German problem, it is a European problem, which must be seen as such” and “we can but be pleased if Belgium wants to make a greater contribuiton” to finding a coherent solution. While it was to state on Wednesday which party it preferred as the one to take over, the German government finally seemed to want to wait a little before taking its decision. Such a deferral would at any rate give a chance for wider coordination to succeed. Four candidates for taking over Opel have made themselves known. They are the Canadian equipment manufacturer Magna, Italian Fiat, the investment fund RHJ International and, lastly, Chinese Beijing Automotive Industry Holding (BAIC). (A.B./transl.jl)