Germany Doesn't Need EU Approval for Opel Funds

With both General Motors and Magna International planning to close the Opel deal as soon as possible, the involved parties are now discussing on the loans to be granted by the state of Germany. Even if the European Union has been asked to investigate the deal, Germany doesn't need the approval from the European body, as the two sides have already signed a temporary framework agreement to support companies during the economic recession.

A document published by Dow Jones Newswires revealed that such a financial package would be still closely analyzed by the European Commission, even if the approval is not needed in this case.

"As in all important cases under the temporary framework, the possible financing will be discussed intensively with the commission," it is mentioned in the document according to just-auto.com.

Other interesting facts revealed by the documents are the job cuts planned by Magna. Both the Canadian - Austrian partsmaker and its Russian ally Sberbank intend to cut 10,900 jobs in Europe, with Germany accounting for 4,100 of them. The Antwerp plant is still in doubt, as the documents are mentioning it "may" be closed.

And speaking of job cuts, European workers have already started protesting against Magna's planned job cuts. In Spain for instance, employees marched alongside business owners and politicians as the new Opel owner aims to cut around 1,700 jobs at the local plant. Furthermore, German workers repeatedly expressed their disapproval regarding the job cuts, claiming they could even travel to Belgium to support their local colleagues at the Antwerp plant.