The history of periarticular pathologies contains a transnational dimension and harkens back to the labour movements and their socio-political claims. But it was difficult to prove the existence of a causal relationship between work and pathologies. Therefore, many states avoided for a long time to recognize Musculoskeletal Disorders as illnesses for which compensations can be paid. The first part of this article contextualizes the history of the recognition of musculoskeletal illnesses and the first steps on the road to a common European economic policy in the 1960s. At this time, the European Economic Community (EEC) placed health at work on its agenda and invited the member states to elaborate new common regulations, including musculoskeletal disorders among the problems to be dealt with. The second part examines the 1980s and 1990s, a period during which the majority of industrial countries saw a spectacular rise in the incidence of peri-articular work-related illnesses. At this moment, inter- and transnational experts, researchers and trade unionists were in the spotlight. While national states only hesitantly hand over health care political sovereignty rights, transnational dynamics claim the recognition of work-related health problems.