German Economy Minister attacks PSA/Opel talks for excluding labor representatives

German Economy Minister Brigitte Zypries said it was totally unacceptable that talks took place on French carmaker PSA Group buying General Motors' European Opel unit without consulting German works councils or local government.

Speaking on the sidelines of a meeting of lawmakers, Zypries also said on Tuesday that the German government had no information on the talks. GM had a responsibility to ensure that Opel's innovation center remained in Germany, the minister said.

Earlier, PSA said it was holding talks with GM about buying Opel.

(Reporting by Holger Hansen; Writing by Madeline Chambers; Editing by Michael Nienaber)