BELGIUM: GM Europe plan expected this week

General Motors was expected to present a restructuring plan for Opel and Vauxhall to European Union ministers by the end of the week, the head of the Belgian region of Flanders said on Monday.

Kris Peeters told Reuters EU ministers would discuss the GM Europe plan at a meeting on 4 December.

Nick Reilly, the interim chief executive of GM Europe, had said earlier that Opel needed around EUR3.3bn (US$4.94bn) of refinancing.

European Union industry commissioner Guenter Verheugen on Monday convened a meeting of ministerial heads from countries with GM plants in the face of fears of a subsidy auction over promised job cuts and included representatives of GM Europe which wants to shed 10,000 jobs.

In a statement after the talks in Brussels, Reilly said: "Our discussion was very open and fair, and I am confident that we will be able to quickly bring our talks with governments, union leaders, employees and other stakeholders to a close so that we can finalise the funding structure and move forward with the necessary restructuring.

During the meeting, I went through the rationale of why GM has decided to retain Opel/Vauxhall and why we think this decision is the best solution for all involved parties.

"We do have a plan, and we are convinced that this plan is the right concept for Opel/Vauxhall's future.

"The implementation of the plan will be based on economic criteria and not be impacted by any government's decision to what extent they support the plan."

German magazine Spiegel said the company had received offers of EUR400m from Britain and between EUR300m and EUR400m from Spain, as well as proposed tax breaks from Poland.

There are also GM Europe plants in Austria and Hungary.

Peeters told AFP said he wanted "more explanations" from the company though Belgium's offer of up to EUR500m to keep the Antwerp Opel factory open was "still on the table".

Jochen Homann, German secretary of state for economics, told the news agency he was "waiting to see what GM will present," but added: "We won't take part in a competition."

He said all governments could "rely" on the commission to ensure there would be no jobs auction at a time of high unemployment, expected to keep growing at least throughout 2010.

Britain was represented by junior minister for business Ian Lucas. A spokesman said London had "always said we will offer aid" and that it would be consistent with commission state-aid competition rules.

Verheugen said last week that he wanted to "avoid putting jobs up for auction" at GM Europe.

The EU's competition and employment commissioners were also present.

Source: just-auto.com/