Brussels, 12/04/2001 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has decided not to raise objections under Community state aid legislation to Italian aid for the Franco-Italian company ST Microelectronics for three R&D projects. The projects were notified in January 2000 and should be completed by 2003, in accordance with Italian legislation on support for R&D projects. This legislation was examined and approved by the Commission last year. Two of the three projects (RAI1 and RAI2) are at the industrial stage while the third (IT) is at the pre-competitive stage. The IT project will include the building of a pilot line to test the new processes. ST Microelectronics has decided to invest in advanced R&D equipment for non-volatile flash memories at its research centre in Agrate Brianza (Italy) on condition that it would receive public aid.