From Luxembourg to Maastricht

The First Steps Towards European Cooperation (EURO-TZA)

When my Robert Schuman Fellowship at the European Parliament in Luxembourg came to an end in 1987, I had gained, above all, one thing: a European perspective on the world of work. During my time in Luxembourg, it had become clear to me that the challenges surrounding part-time work and jobsharing were not a German phenomenon. In many European countries, researchers, companies, associations and political institutions were searching for new ways to make work more flexible — while at the same time creating employment opportunities. Each country in its own way, with its own means.

It became increasingly clear to me: if jobsharing was to have a future in Europe, it would need more than individual pieces of research. It would need people who exchanged knowledge, gathered experience and learned from one another. A platform. A network. The only question was: who should build it?

From Luxembourg to Düsseldorf — and Beyond

After my time in Luxembourg, I first stayed for a while with Dagmar in Düsseldorf. We had met during our time together at the European Parliament — she had worked there as a visiteur in the field of legal studies. After the intensive year in Luxembourg, it was good to pause for a while and gather my thoughts. But the subject of jobsharing would not let me rest. And so began, from Düsseldorf, a journey that would, in hindsight, prove to be an important step on the way to the later founding of EURO-TZA e.V.

Maastricht: The First International Research Conversation

My Dutch friend André, who had also worked as a stagiaire at the European Parliament, had developed a strong interest in my jobsharing project. He was enthusiastic about the idea and helped me build contacts with researchers in the Netherlands. Together, we travelled to Maastricht. There, André had arranged a meeting with two researchers: Prof. Dr J.A.M. Heijke, Director of the Research Department at the Institute of Economics, and Dr C. de Neubourg of the Limburg Institute for Business and Economic Research at Maastricht University.

For me, this meeting was something special. For the first time, I was discussing my ideas on qualified part-time work and jobsharing with researchers outside Germany. We talked about labour markets, employment policy, and the question of what role innovative working-time models might play in Europe in the future. And I noticed: the interest was genuine. The questions that occupied me were occupying others too.

Today, such a meeting seems perfectly ordinary. At the time, it was anything but. There was no internet, no video conferencing, no social networks. Anyone wanting to build international contacts had to travel, write letters, make phone calls and hold conversations in person. Precisely because of this, these encounters were so valuable — and precisely because of this, they have stayed in my memory.

The First Supporters

Maastricht was not the only stop. In the months that followed, I made contact with further researchers, institutions and organisations — among them the Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB, the Institute for Employment Research) in Nuremberg and its president, Herr Franke. What interested me most was the question of how new forms of part-time work could be accompanied and documented scientifically. Because the more I engaged with the subject, the clearer it became: there were many individual initiatives, but hardly any networking. Many people were working on similar questions — often without knowing about one another.

An Important Conversation in Cologne

A trip to Cologne on 27 May 1987 has stayed particularly clearly in my memory. Dr Fritz-Jürgen Kador, Managing Director of the Bundesvereinigung der Deutschen Arbeitgeberverbände (Confederation of German Employers’ Associations), had invited me for a personal conversation. Dr Müller-Hagen, who was deeply engaged with questions of part-time work, also took part. For me, this invitation was a significant recognition. It showed that the subject of jobsharing had, by then, also found attention among important players in the world of work — and that my work was being noticed.

At the centre of our conversation was the question of how my project could be supported. We discussed how employers’ associations could be made aware of the subject, and how information about jobsharing models already in practice could be gathered systematically. Surveys, interviews and the collection of practical examples were planned. One thing became very clear that day: it was not interest that was lacking. It was information, experience and contacts. That was exactly what I wanted to change.

The Idea of a European Cooperation

The more conversations I had, the stronger a conviction grew within me: jobsharing and qualified part-time work needed a shared platform. Not only in Germany — in Europe. I had already discussed this idea during my time at the European Parliament with the other stagiaires and visiteurs. We had seen how differently countries approached flexible forms of work — and how much each country could learn from the others, if only there were a place where this knowledge could come together.

At some point during these months, the thought turned into a decision. It was not enough to talk about it. Something had to emerge that went beyond individual conversations and encounters. Something that activities from various European countries could join — for a genuine, lasting exchange of experience.

From this conviction, EURO-TZA e.V. — the European Cooperation for the Promotion of New Forms of Part-Time Work — was finally founded in October 1987. What had begun as a research interest developed, step by step, into a European network. And I was right in the middle of it — no longer only as a researcher, but as a founder.