Press Release: State aid: Commission endorses French public funding of EUR 100 million for Eurocopter R&D project for new Franco-Chinese helicopter

The European Commission, acting under the state aid rules of the EC Treaty, has approved a €100 million R&D support measure proposed by the French authorities for Eurocopter, a subsidiary of EADS. It is a cash advance to be reimbursed if the project is commercially successful. The aim of the project is to develop a new medium-size helicopter known as EC175 under a Franco-Chinese cooperation scheme. The Commission considers that the project complies with the criteria of the Community Framework for state aid for research and development and can therefore be declared compatible with the EC Treaty (Article 87).