Standard
TET Criteria Catalogue
- Current version
- v1.0
- Effective
- 13th of August 2026
- Status
- Current
A verification model designed for rigorous evidence, independent judgement, and public trust.
TET standards define what each certificate means, which evidence supports it, where automated checks can be used, and where an accountable reviewer must make the decision. The result is a public signal with a documented basis and a controlled lifecycle.
Each public seal is tied to a defined review scope.
A TET certification does not make a general claim that an organisation or technology is simply “European”. Each seal relates to a defined assessment scope and a specified set of requirements. Applications are therefore divided into individual modules, each with its own criteria, evidence record, review decision and outcome.
This makes the meaning of every seal precise: a positive result in one module does not imply compliance with requirements that fall outside that module.
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Certificate scope is defined before evidence is assessed.
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Every module is evaluated against a specified version of the applicable TET standard.
03
Composite certificates are derived only from qualifying active module certificates.
We assess defined requirements — not impressions of “Europeanness”.
Each TET module translates a specific aspect of European technological sovereignty into assessable requirements. Depending on the module, these may concern matters such as ownership and control, workforce, operational responsibility, infrastructure, technology dependencies or other characteristics defined by the applicable standard.
Requirements are established independently of individual applications. An applicant cannot alter the criteria, thresholds or assessment methodology used to evaluate its own organisation, product or service.
Where a requirement contains a quantitative threshold, the relevant population, reference date, calculation method and treatment of exceptional cases are defined by the standard so that the resulting determination can be reproduced.
01
The same published requirements apply to every applicant assessed under the same standard version.
02
Thresholds are evaluated using defined populations, reference periods and calculation rules.
03
Changes to a standard are versioned and do not retrospectively change the basis of an existing assessment.
A claim is accepted only when the evidence supports it.
TET assessments are evidence-led. Applicants must provide the information and supporting material required by the applicable module. The type and depth of evidence depend on the requirement being examined and the degree to which the underlying fact can be independently verified.
Where possible, applicant information is corroborated against independent or primary sources. These may include corporate and beneficial-ownership registers, legal-entity records, corporate documentation, infrastructure information, employment records, technical system data or other evidence appropriate to the requirement.
Technical mechanisms may be used to collect or verify defined facts where this provides stronger or more reproducible evidence than a declaration alone. Where direct verification is not reasonably possible, the reviewer assesses the documentary evidence available and records the basis on which the conclusion was reached.
01
Applicant declarations alone are not treated as equivalent to independently verifiable evidence where stronger evidence is reasonably available.
02
Evidence must be attributable to the organisation, relevant to the requirement and sufficiently current for the assessment.
03
Conflicting, incomplete or unverifiable evidence must be resolved before the affected requirement can receive a positive outcome.
Evidence is assessed against the standard before a certificate can be issued.
The purpose of review is not merely to confirm that documents have been uploaded. The reviewer determines whether the available evidence demonstrates that each applicable requirement of the module has been satisfied.
Evidence is considered in context. Where several records are necessary to establish a fact, they are assessed together. Where information conflicts, the inconsistency must be investigated. Additional evidence or clarification may be requested when the existing record is insufficient to reach a defensible conclusion.
The assessment record preserves the connection between the requirement, the evidence considered and the resulting decision. A module is awarded only when all mandatory conditions for that module have been met.
01
Every assessment decision is traceable to a defined requirement and supporting evidence.
02
Insufficient evidence results in further review or a non-qualifying outcome rather than an assumption in the applicant's favour.
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Certification is issued only after the applicable review and decision process has been completed.
The seal communicates exactly what has been verified.
A TET seal represents the outcome of a particular assessment; its meaning is bounded by the certificate scope. The certificate identifies the organisation or technology assessed, the qualifying module or modules, the applicable standard version and the status of the certification.
Where several independently qualifying modules satisfy the rules for a broader designation, TET may issue a composite certificate. The composite certificate does not replace the underlying assessments: it is derived from them and remains dependent on their continued validity.
Public certificate information can be checked through the TET catalogue. This allows third parties to distinguish an active certification from an expired, superseded, suspended or withdrawn claim and to see what the seal actually covers.
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Every public seal corresponds to a verifiable certificate record.
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A certificate may be used only for the scope for which it was awarded.
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A composite designation remains valid only while its required underlying certificates remain qualifying and active.
Certification is a conclusion about evidenced facts and not a permanent guarantee.
A certification reflects the organisation, product or service assessed on the basis of the applicable standard and the evidence available for the relevant assessment period. Circumstances may subsequently change. Ownership structures can change, employees can move between jurisdictions, infrastructure can be migrated and technology dependencies can be replaced.
For this reason, continued certification depends on continued conformity with the applicable requirements. Material changes affecting certified facts may require reassessment, additional evidence or a new assessment. Certificates are subject to their defined validity conditions and may be suspended, withdrawn or allowed to expire where those conditions are no longer met.
Applicants are responsible for providing complete and truthful information. TET seeks to verify material claims using appropriate evidence and independent sources wherever reasonably possible, but no evidence-based assessment can eliminate every possibility of concealed, inaccurate or subsequently changed information. Evidence of material misrepresentation may therefore lead to reassessment or withdrawal of the affected certification.
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Certification applies to the defined scope, standard version and assessment basis recorded for the certificate.
02
Material changes affecting certified requirements may trigger reassessment.
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A certificate can be suspended or withdrawn where its requirements are no longer met or its evidentiary basis is shown to be materially incorrect.
Certificate decisions reference a named standard version.
Versioned standards make the review basis inspectable and allow criteria to evolve without obscuring which rules applied to an existing certificate.
Related information
Explore the certification scope or begin an application.
The methodology explains how decisions are made. The seals catalogue explains what each certificate verifies, and the certification page explains the applicant journey.