The power of unemployment
It's worth more than a glance at on the sale of the car manufacturer Opel. The message from Jonathan Todd and his boss, Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes, was that the EU had no intention of blocking the deal. On the surface it may seem uncontroversial but the history of this affair suggests otherwise.
Germany, keen to protect as many as possible of its 25,000 jobs linked to Opel, offered 4.5bn euros (£4bn) in state aid. The offer was made to Magna, a Canadian auto parts manufacturer, and the Russian bank Sberbank. They had pitched to General Motors to take on their European arm in the form of Opel.
When the German government stepped in, that government funding applied only to the Magna deal.
Shortly after, there was anxiety in Brussels that the proposed deal breached the EU's rules on state aid. Most officials thought that the German offer clearly favoured one proposal. The competition commissioner wrote to Berlin .
The president of the EU Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, added his voice, saying "we cannot compromise European market regulation".
But once the usual statements were made, reality took over. A senior manager at Opel warned that the company would run out of cash within three months. There would be plant closures. Some 50,000 jobs were on the line - when the EU already had a dole queue of 21 million.
Suddenly the Germans said that their financial offer winning control. State aid was available "irrespective of the choice of investor". Up until a few days ago no one had thought Berlin was interested in any deal apart from Magna/Sberbank. But once that statement had come from Berlin the commission said it had no intention of thwarting the sale.
So the question remains - when jobs are on the line - do the rules bend? The deal with Magna may still unravel, but others in the EU will be wondering whether the unemployment lines have a power of their own?
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