State aid for joint Renault/PSA car and road safety project
The Commission of the European Communities has approved French State aid to the Renault and PSA organizations for a joint RTD project concerning car and road safety. The project is considered compatible with both the PROMETHEUS II project (EUREKA programme) and the Community's DRIVE programme but does not overlap work undertaken within them. Concerned with the passive and active safety of vehicles and with the avoidance of accidents, the project is to be divided into 4 sections: - Study of accidents; - Safe light vehicle (driver/vehicle interaction, protection features); - Safe heavy vehicles; - Simulators for training. An estimated total cost of ECU 98.6 million is to be involved over a five-year period,, of which 28% is devoted to basic research and 72% to applied research. The proposed aid will take the form of grants of ECU 31.5 million under two schemes governed by the French Ministries of Research and Technology and of Industry and External Trade. This represents an average aid intensity of 32% of the eligible cost. In approving the State aid, the Commission concluded that the project fulfils the criteria of the Community Framework for Research and Development insofar as the prescribed ratio between basic and applied research is respected and the content of the research goes well beyond the current safety requirements and features of motor vehicles. The proposed aid also meets the criteria of the framework for State aid to the motor vehicles industry, given that the project does not contain any development activities but is limited to pre-competitive research activities aiming at the prevention of road accidents and reduction of the frequency and gravity of injuries through an advanced integrated system of active and passive vehicle safety. The car and road safety project is to be coordinated by the joint company GIE PSA-Renault and will also involve the participation of many component manufacturers in the sector.