OSBORNE CLARKE ANWALTSSOZIETAT

Their core work

Osborne Clarke is an international commercial law firm operating in Cologne, Germany, that brings legal and regulatory expertise into EU research consortia — a role most research-only organisations cannot fill. Their H2020 participation centres on the legal conditions for innovative financing instruments, specifically the regulatory environment for crowdfunding applied to renewable energy projects, and more broadly on the policy and legal dimensions of open science. In practice, they advise consortia on how proposed mechanisms fit within EU financial regulation, national legal frameworks, and public policy, translating research outcomes into actionable regulatory guidance. Both of their EU projects are Coordination and Support Actions (CSA), the funding type specifically designed for policy, standardisation, and dissemination work rather than experimental research — which is precisely the space where a law firm adds value.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their first H2020 project (2015–2018), Osborne Clarke was squarely focused on the intersection of renewable energy and innovative financing — specifically the regulatory conditions for crowdfunding as a mechanism for funding clean energy. The keyword set from this period is rich and specific: crowdfunding, fund raising, public acceptance, communities, platform. Their second project (2019–2021) shifted to a different domain entirely — open science policy in transport — with no available keywords, suggesting a broader and potentially more peripheral contribution there. The pattern suggests they followed market and policy opportunities rather than deepening a single technical niche: energy finance law first, then transport open science policy.

Their trajectory shows a move from a specific energy finance niche toward broader open science and transport policy, which may indicate they are positioning as a generalist legal voice in EU research policy rather than a specialist in any single domain.

How they like to work

Osborne Clarke has never led an H2020 project — they join as a specialist participant, contributing legal and regulatory expertise that complements the technical partners. With 39 unique consortium partners across just 2 projects, they have worked in moderately large consortia (roughly 20 partners per project on average), which is typical for CSA actions that require broad stakeholder representation. This pattern suggests they are recruited as a named legal expert to give consortia credibility with regulatory bodies, not as an operational manager.

Across 2 projects, Osborne Clarke has built connections with 39 distinct partners spanning 19 countries — a notably broad European footprint for such a small H2020 portfolio. Their reach across nearly a fifth of EU member and associated states reflects the pan-European nature of CSA consortia, which typically require geographic diversity to produce policy recommendations applicable across member states.

What sets them apart

Osborne Clarke is one of very few commercial law firms appearing in the H2020 participant database, which immediately distinguishes them from universities, research institutes, and consultancies. They bring something genuinely rare to a consortium: the ability to assess whether a proposed financing instrument or open-data mechanism is legally viable across multiple EU jurisdictions. For any project where regulatory feasibility, financial law compliance, or intellectual property governance is a concern, a law firm partner of this calibre provides credibility with policymakers and funders that no research organisation can replicate.

Highlights from their portfolio

• CrowdFundRES
  The larger of the two projects (EUR 214,644), it addressed a genuinely underexplored regulatory gap — how EU crowdfunding rules could be adapted to enable citizen investment in renewable energy — making it directly relevant to the EU's current retail investment and energy community legislation.
• BE OPEN
  Participation in a European observatory for open science in transport signals Osborne Clarke's ability to contribute to policy-formation projects at the intersection of data governance, IP law, and transport research infrastructure.