BRUSSELS, May 28 (Reuters) - EU competition regulators

on Tuesday approved a 1.4-billion-euro ($1.52 billion) joint

hydrogen project funded by seven EU countries and a separate

1-billion-euro ($1.1 billion) joint healthcare project funded by

a group of six EU countries.

Estonia, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Slovakia and

Spain will provide up to 1.4 billion euros in public funding,

for the hydrogen project which is expected to unlock an

additional 3.3 billion euros in private investments, the

European Commission said in a statement.

It said 11 companies, including Airbus, BMW

and Michelin, will take part in 13 projects.

The healthcare project will be funded by Belgium, France,

Hungary, Italy, Slovakia and Spain to support research and

innovation and is expected to unlock an additional 5.9 billion

euros in private investments, the Commission said.

Sanofi, Euroapi and 11 other companies

will participate in 14 healthcare schemes.

Both schemes are so-called Important Project of Common

European Interest (IPCEI) which allows EU governments to fund

them under looser EU state aid rules.

($1 = 0.9193 euros)