EU:Opel Aid Must Not Contain Political Pacts Between Nations
September 23 2009 - 7:13AM
Dow Jones News
The European Commission Wednesday repeated its warning to
Germany that it will carefully scrutinise any state aid provided to
carmaker General Motor's European arm Adam Opel to ensure it
follows the European Union's strict rules on state aid.
The commission will examine indications that negotiations are
taking place between a number of European governments concerning
aid that is linked to the number of workers finally retained by New
Opel in different countries, it said.
"The European Commission will not accept state aid that is
conditional upon the implementation of a specific business plan,
previously negotiated with member states, which defines the
geographic distribution of restructuring measures," without
allowing those businesses receiving the funds to revise their plans
if necessary, said the commission's spokesman on competition
matters, Jonathan Todd.
-By Carolyn Henson, Dow Jones Newswires; +32 2 741 1481;
carolyn.henson@dowjones.com