BRUSSELS - The European Commission will organise a meeting of European Union industry ministers to discuss the sale of carmaker Opel, a spokesman for the EU executive said on Wednesday.

The Commission will organise a meeting of ministers of industries from member states on the issue of Opel. No date has been set but it would be soon, EU enterprise and industry spokesman Ton Van Lierop said.

Belgium's prime minister 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.

Germany's government is due to decide on Wednesday on which bidder or bidders it prefers as a partner for the Opel unit of U.S. carmaker General Motors, which has 25,000 workers at four plants in the country.

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.

Double click on the newslinks below for the relevant topics:

[EU-REGS-RTRS-LEN] For stories on competition issues

[EU-REGS-AID-BACT-RTRS-LEN] For stories on state aid, M&As (Reporting by Bate Felix, editing by Timothy Heritage and Simon Jessop)

Germany European union U.S. General motors