EU-Digest/Detroit news: Germany will not help GM in restructuring of Opel and will have to pay back the German bridge loan

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A senior German government official told General Motors Co. executives Wednesday that the U.S. automaker will have to cover the cost of restructuring its troubled German carmaker Adam Opel GmbH. Economy Minister Rainer Bruederle said he reiterated the position outlined by Chancellor Angela Merkel at a meeting in Berlin with Nick Reilly, GM's head of international operations, and John Smith, the chief negotiator in the Opel bid talks. Merkel told the lower house of Parliament on Tuesday that GM would have to rely on its own resources to restructure Opel. Mrs.Merkel said: "This solution can only work if GM takes over the lion's share of the restructuring costs, which also means that it has to pay back the bridging loan."

Note EU-Digest: If GM management continues dragging their feet and keeps coming back on its word, the next step should be for Germany to consider nationalizing Opel and continue with the original plan whereby Opel would be sold to Canadian and Russian interests to guarantee continued operations of Opel and German jobs.