Berlin - The German and Spanish governments said Wednesday they plan to work closely to avert major job losses and factory closures at General Motors' European division Opel. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero met Wednesday evening at Meseberg Palace, just outside Berlin, for long-planned talks.
GM's top executive in Europe had confirmed hours before plans to axe about 9,000 jobs. Nick Reilly said the brunt of the cuts would be borne at plants in Germany and Belgium. Opel also has a factory in Spain.
Merkel and Zapatero said in a statement that their governments had cooperated on the Opel issue from the very beginning and there had been no conflict between the two nations. Zapatero said both countries offered a good future for carmaking and Opel itself.
Zapatero, who was on his way back from a Middle East tour, briefed Merkel about the agenda of the Spanish presidency of the European Union during the first half of 2010, saying beating the recession would be a key issue.
His meeting with Merkel replaced a traditional annual bilateral summit, which did not take place because of changes of ministers after the German general election in September.
