Two German states endorse govt's Opel rescue plan

BERLIN, May 31 (Reuters) - The budget and finance committees of two German states with large Opel plants on Sunday endorsed a deal with Magna (MGa.TO: Quote, Profile, Research), General Motors GM.N and the U.S. government to save Opel from the bankruptcy of its parent.

The budget and finance committees in Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia held extraordinary sessions in Wiesbaden and Dusseldorf, respectively, to examine and approve their share of the bridge financing worth 1.5 billion euros ($2.10 billion) agreed on Saturday.

Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck said in Berlin early on Saturday after a marathon meeting that a deal had been agreed that included bridge financing from the federal and state governments and a trustee model.

The states and federal government will evenly share the costs of the financing.

Hesse state premier Roland Koch had said in Berlin on Saturday the two state assemblies still had to approve their share of the agreement. About 15,600 of Opel's 25,000 workers are based in Hesse and 5,200 in North Rhine-Westphalia.

In Berlin, parliament's budget committee met on Sunday in an extraordinary session to discuss the agreement. The budget experts from the opposition parties had in particular expressed an interest in seeing details of the rescue.

The budget committee does not have the power to block the cabinet's decisions.

(Reporting by Tom Kaeckenhoff, Patricia Gugau and Thorsten Severein; writing by Erik Kirschbaum; Editing by Erica Billingham)