This is the thing Lizzie, it's promoted as a good thing that parts and processes criss cross Europe multiple times before the end product is finished.
What of the carbon footprint and the time and costs involved in shipping bits and pieces all over the place.
Jeremy Whine gave the example of BMW MINI the other day, where they build the engines in the West Midlands. The crankshafts are made here, but then shipped to Belgium for polishing, before returning to the West Midlands for assembly. I really wonder whether these decisions are made for political reasons rather than sound business reasons as I find it hard to believe that there isn't an engineering firm somewhere in the West Midlands that could polish a crankshaft. I also find it hard to believe that a Belgian company's cost base is significantly less than a UK firm, to the point that it is worth shipping truck loads of crankshafts to Belgium and back.
Given that they churn out 800 MINI's a day at Cowley, thats a lot of trucks shuttling back and forth!