“We are naturally determined to resolve the remaining problems in a spirit of European equality. If we had not intervened with a bridging loan when General Motors (GM) declared bankruptcy, many Europeans would have been in trouble. It was mutually beneficial," said Angela Merkel.
Meanwhile, tensions rose in Britain, where Financial Times wrote “Europe must not let Berlin pay for job cuts to go elsewhere.” The news paper fears Merkel’s decisions to protect German factories could have a negative impact on one of Vauxhall’s UK factories, as well as the Opel's plant in Antwerp, Belgium.
Peter Mandelson, Britain's business minister stated the European Commission should "refuse to accept plant closures and restructuring that reflect the size of the cheque-book rather than commercial considerations.”
“State aid rules are probably our most important check against a subsidy war between governments pressured to protect jobs during a recession,” added Mandelson. Britain’s position on the matter wants to reflect the fact that Magna shouldn’t be allowed to only protect Opel factories within the countries that offer state aid.
Other countries follow UK's line of thinking as well. Belgium’s growing fears the Antwerp plant might be shut down, led the country in asking the European leaders to examine Magna’s deal with Opel .
In Spain, where Opel has a plant near Zaragoza, tensions rose as well, industry minister Miguel Sebastian stating: “we always felt... that Magna was not the best alternative.”
Amid all the tensions and fears, Opel’s boss Hans Demant declared: “There are lots of people who are giving their opinion at the moment, and most have no idea what they are talking about.”
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