Brussels, 26/04/2006 (Agence Europe) - The French 'Agence de l'innovation industrielle' (AII) has launched its first five projects in areas like search engines, television programmes on mobile phones, energy saving buildings, automatic, pneumatic underground trains and biotech. Headed by Jean-Louis Beffa, CEO of Saint-Gobain, AII will provide a total of EUR 236 million in co-funding for the EUR 596 million total funding of the five projects by big companies and SMEs. Financial risks will be shared between the companies in question and the state. More than a dozen projects are expected to be launched this year by big French and German companies (Siemens and Bertelsmann) with the aim of giving AII a European dimension. On Tuesday, a European Commission spokesperson described the French initiative as 'a good thing', adding that any project given public aid would have to be examined from the angle of the EU's state aid rules.