European competition commissioner Mario Monti is investigating Italian state aid to Finmeccanica. The European Commission (EC) move follows a previous analysis of 13 suspected cases of unfair stateaid totalling €3.2 billion ($3.7 billion) to different companies in the Italian Finmeccanica Group since 1999. The EC shortlisted six Finmeccanica research and development projects that received financing from the Italian Government that could have exceeded the commission's funding threshold set in 1986. The projects quoted include one to improve the Agusta A109X/D/E/F helicopter's performance, and subcontracted development work for several large US manufacturers, which together attracted some €250 million in state aid.

Source: Flight International