Workers at the Ford factory in Genk, Belgium had seen it coming since the announcement of an emergency general meeting at the car manufacturer on Wednesday morning.

Five minutes into the meeting, the news was dropped like a bombshell.

The factory would close its doors in 2014.

It was a slap in the face for the 4,700 workers at Ford Genk.

5,000 indirect jobs, including suppliers, will also be affected by the closure.

According to the latest information, production of the Ford Mondeo model will continue in 2013 and will then shift to Valencia in Spain.

The Belgian trade unions, the CSC and the FGTB, stated that “it’s a bitter pill for the region as a whole and especially for the workers concerned and their families”.

The workers are completely bewildered.

Only last September, agreement was reached which stipulated that the production of the Mondeo would remain in Genk if the workers accepted a 12 per cent salary reduction.

European management had also promised the trade union that they had plans for investment.

Over the last few days, several sources including the Reuters news agency had begun to make reference to unfavourable reports surrounding the Belgian plant facilities.

These were confirmed this morning with the announcement of the closure.

The closure of Ford Genk raises several questions.

Kris Peteers, Minister-President of Flanders [Belgium’s northern, Dutch-speaking region] suggested following the announcing, that the problem undoubtedly stemmed from high taxes.

The automobile sector is no more expensive in Belgium than it is in Germany where closures are rare.

Furthermore, according to John Crombez, the Secretary of State for Combating Social and Fiscal Fraud, Belgian employees are very productive when compared with Europe and the rest of the world.

The companies ask for subsidies to ensure that profits margins are sufficiently high. Once this is the case, they leave.

"Why do companies who receive subsidies not have to repay them and pay damages when they pull out prematurely? This is the subject of considerable debate," said Crombez.

The automotive industry in Belgian has been experiencing difficulties for several years.

It has halved in size in ten years. In 2001, nearly 1.2 million cars and vans were assembled in Belgium; however only 525,000 vehicles rolled out of Belgian factories last year.

Belgium is still haunted by the closure of the Opel General Motors factory in Antwerp in January 2010 and the resulting impact.

The Ford Genk is reminiscent of the General Motors affair in the United States.

Belgium’s French-language daily newspaper Le Soir reminded readers on Wednesday that the American government recently played a significant role in the automotive industry, orchestrating a reduction in the production capacity in parallel with an automotive redeployment.

The European Commission certainly has an equally fundamental role to play in order to stimulate European potential.

In France, the state is to give financial aid to the car manufacturer PSA Peugeot Citroën.

In return, the state and the employees will each have a seat on the supervisory board of the car manufacturer.

This was confirmed by the Prime Minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault.

Meanwhile, like all too often in recent months, the whole region will suffer on account of the closure at Ford Genk. The future looks worse than bleak for many Flemish families.