Good progress has been made on the Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR) material and components investigations performed within the European Commission 5th and 6th Framework programmes. These programmes focus on the identification and investigation of key technological issues for this modular type of reactor, which offers significant advantages for the long-term development of sustainable energy and heat applications including hydrogen generation. For the 5th Framework programme two materials projects HTR-M & M1 and a component project (HTR-E) were undertaken to address requirements for the reactor pressure boundary, high temperature components (including turbine and recuperator), tribology issues and operational issues and the graphite core. For the 6th Framework programme the RAPHAEL-IP is underway addressing the remaining key issues plus extending the development and qualification to include heat exchangers, the gas circulator and design codes. The main highlights of the results from the key investigations and tests performed within these programmes are summarized. These investigations also provide significant inputs to the EU Framework Programmes EXTREMAT and GCFR..