The European Commission announced Thursday that it will host a meeting of industry and economy ministers on Friday to discuss state support measures for the U.S. General Motors (GM)'s European subsidiary Opel.

The announcement of the meeting followed negotiations Wednesday between GM and the German government over the future of Opel, which GM plans to sell.

The Italian carmaker Fiat, and Canadian car-parts manufacturer Magna, are the current frontrunners to take over Opel.

The German government is due to decide on which bidder or bidders it prefers as a partner for the Opel, which has 25,000 workers at four plants in the country.

The Belgian and British governments have expressed concerns that Germany could extract concessions from bidders for Opel to keep plants open in Germany, rather than Belgium or the UK, in exchange for promises of state support.

The Commission said any planned support measures should ensure member states share information and must respect EU internal market rules.

Belgium's Prime Minster and the premier of the Flanders region said on Wednesday that they had sent letters to Germany and the European Commission demanding Opel's future be settled at the European level.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told a news conference in Brussels he had received the letter from the Belgian government but had not yet had a chance to discuss it.

He said the EU executive was monitoring the situation and invited member states to contribute in finding a solution for Opel, especially for its workers.

We are in contact with all member states concerned by this and of course we will be pleased if Belgium were able to make a contribution towards finding a solution, Barroso said.

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