German politicians angered by Nokia factory closure

Calls to repay subsidies

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The mobile telephone company Nokia became the target of sharp attacks by politicians in Germany on Wednesday, following the announcement that the Finnish company is shutting down its handset assembly plant in Bochum.
      Jürgen Rüttgers, the conservative Prime Minister of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, accused Nokia of hoarding subsidy money. He said that the state and the German federal government had supported Nokia to the tune of EUR 88 million as it developed its operations in Germany.
     State Social Democratic Party chairman Kurt Beck questioned the validity of Nokia's "Connecting People" slogan.
     "In reality it appears that rather than connecting people, the company is breaking societies", Beck said in a letter of support to the workers at the Nokia plant in Bochum.
     
The closure of the Bochum factory means lost jobs for up to 2,300 people. However, the trade union IG Metall calculates that approximately an equal number of jobs are under threat because of the indirect effects of the decision.
     Some politicians raised the possibility of asking Nokia to return business subsidies that it had been paid in years past.
     Others pointed out that such a move would not be legally possible, because more than ten years have passed since Nokia received such benefits.
     
At least part of the operations of the Bochum factory are to be transferred to a new Nokia plant in Romania. This inspired some Germans to ask if Nokia had received any backing from the European Union for the move.
     European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso denied any such arrangements, and defended Nokia's decision.
     "If it is possible to move production from Finland to Germany, it also has to be possible to move from Germany to Romania", Barroso said in Strasbourg.
     Barroso said that it is most significant that production should remain in the EU.
     
Reactions in the German press were generally more moderate than those of politicians. Both Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) and Süddeutsche Zeitung took an understanding view, although both noted that the closure of the Bochum factory will mean an end to the assembly of mobile telephones in Germany.
     The papers noted that intense price competition on the mobile phone market has forced Nokia to follow others in making tough decisions. "It is simply consistent that Nokia is acting now, and will not wait until a downhill slide begins", FAZ wrote on Wednesday.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Nokia shutting down plant in Germany, moving manufacture to Romania(16.1.2008)

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