Brussels, 10/04/2002 (Agence Europe) - By the end of the month, the European Commission is expected to give its stance on renewal, without changes, of the rules applying to State aid in favour of research. Such is the compromise reached by the research and competition services in the context of regular revision of the Community framework. Revision was originally to allow certain qualitative improvements to the system which generally functions well, but the Directorate General for Competition initially attempted to reduce aid intensity from 50 to 37.5%. It justified this renewal above all by the greater efficiency of tax advantages compared to direct financing. The Directorate General for Research, which considers that, on the contrary, the development of research requires a combination of different aid forms, opposed the proposals made by the services under Mr Monti.