The Commission of the European Communities funds a ‘concerted action’ programme in the area of hearing impairment. The programme does not fund research directly, but is intended to provide funds for coordination of research in different countries. Previous projects funded by the programme include a comprehensive study of the prevalence of childhood deafness in the European Community, and meetings on cochlear implants, human temporal bone histopathology, diagnostic techniques and hearing impairment in children. The programme is currently concerned with new technologies for communication in the hearing impaired and activities in 1988 will include workshops on signal processing hearing aids and early diagnosis in child