A rope-access technician is a person who performs work in elevated difficult-to-reach locations using ropes. The occupation of a rope-access technician has become increasingly professionalised in the course of time. Today it is very much an expanding trade, in which safety plays a major role. The range of activities in which the services of rope-access technicians are used include public works, building, industrial maintenance, events management and cleaning. The rope-access trade generates employment, and specialised businesses have been investing heavily in the continuing training of their staff.The opening of markets and development opportunities within and outside the European Union have been fuelling discussions about a process of harmonising training courses and qualifications in order to promote the recognition of the trade and familiarity with its practices. The outcome of these discussions is the design, based on experience drawn from three European countries, of a European qualification, in conformity with the European Qualifications Framework, for the occupation of cord-access technician.The tools to be created in the course of the project are as follows: - a guide to the activities and skills of a rope-access technician, - a certification guide, - a modular training programme for rope-access technicians, - a training programme for instructors (skills and knowledge transfer), and - a training programme for members of certification panels and assessorsThese tools will be tried and tested in the course of the project in the three countries. The findings and the tools will be developed and disseminated through a newsletter, a website, dissemination seminars in each country and an international seminar in France, to which representatives of professional bodies from the European countries will be invited.This new qualification will help to enhance the status of rope-access technicians and to harmonise their skill profiles and will be extended to countries that wish to be involved in this process.