Transform4Europe Alliance Achieves Legal Personality
“Transform4Europe: The European University for Knowledge Entrepreneurs e.V.”
4 February 2026 | Saarland
About
On February 4, 2026, the Transform4Europe (T4EU) Alliance officially transitioned from a consortium of partners into a distinct legal entity. Registered in Saarland as an association under German law (eingetragener Verein – e.V.), the new entity is titled “Transform4Europe: The European University for Knowledge Entrepreneurs e.V.”.
The registration marks a pivotal shift in the Alliance’s architecture, moving beyond project-based cooperation toward a permanent, integrated structure.
“The foundation of the legal entity is an important commitment of all our eleven partners to build a long-lasting, close and strong European University Alliance,” said Prof. Dominik Brodowski, T4EU Acting Secretary General, Vice-President for Internationalisation and European Relations at Saarland University.
A Strategic Legal Framework
The creation of this entity was the result of extensive collaboration by a multi-lingual team of legal experts led by the University of Silesia in Katowice (Poland). After evaluating various national and European legal options, the team recommended a legal entity under German law as a transitory solution. Saarland University (Germany), acting as the consortium coordinator, played a vital role in navigating the formal registration process within the German jurisdiction. This approach includes a monitoring phase designed to facilitate a future transition to more suitable European legal entities, currently under development.
Prof. Tomasz Pietrzykowski (University of Silesia in Katowice), who led the Legal Expert Team, emphasized the importance of this step:
“The creation of a T4EU legal entity is a pivotal moment for the Alliance, as it marks our determination to pursue stable, long-term cooperation among our universities – cooperation that becomes less and less dependent on temporary projects and European Commission financial incentives”.
Impact on Students and Staff
The new legal status provides T4EU with the capacity to seek independent funding and guarantees that the Alliance’s cooperation extends beyond the current European Commission financing period. For students and staff, this means a more stable environment for international mobility, joint research initiatives, and shared educational resources.
For more commentary on the significance of the legal entity for the T4EU Alliance, please refer to the full interview with Prof. Tomasz Pietrzykowski and Dr. Mauro Arturo Rivera León by Tomasz Janocha, available here: A Milestone for Transform4Europe Cooperation – Transform4Europe.
