European Quality Conferences

5th Quality Conference for Public Administrations in the EU: The Citizen at the Heart of European Quality
Paris - La Défense, 20-22 October 2008
Programme of the 5QC
Programme of the CAF centre , presentations and cases

4th QC - Building Sustainable Quality .
Tampere , 27-29 September 2006
Programme 4QC
Report CAF centre – Launch CAF 2006

3th QC – Making Opportunities Work
Rotterdam , 15-17 September 2004
Main themes: Leadership, customer orientation, e-Government, partnerships, change management, measurements, TQM models, cost-effectiveness, staff development
About the content: 65 best practices were presented. According to the summary of the conference the future challenges of quality management include paying more attention to leadership development, enhancing competitiveness of public sector as a employer, bettering the management of diversity and enhancing the use of ICT in service delivery. Also the relationship between public sector and civil society need attention. 85 percent of the conference participants felt they received new ideas for their future work and 94 percent would recommend others to participate in 4QC.

2 nd QC – Innovation, Change, Partnership
Copenhagen , 2-4 October 2002
About the content: Launch CAF 2002, 49 best practices were presented. The key findings of the conference highlighted that more attention for users' demands is required, quality improvement is an ongoing process of trial and error, more attention is required for problems and barriers since these areas will teach us the most. 74 percent of the participants went home with new ideas for improvement. 89 percent would recommend others to participate in 3QC.

1 st QC – Sharing Best practices
Lisbon, 10-12 May 2000
Main themes: New Millennium, New Public Management, Total Quality Management, Internet and the new technology, Citizen Orientation
About the content: Presentation of the Common Assessment Framework (CAF 2000), 39 best practices, the usefulness of best practices as a learning tool.

Good practices at the consecutive quality conferences (2000-2008)
This browser will enable you to find both the best practices presented during the 5th Quality Conference as well as those presented during the previous Conferences
http://www.5qualiconference.eu/bp.php

A common European quality management instrument for the public sector

developed by the public sector.

The Common Assessment Framework (CAF) is a result of the co-operation among the EU Ministers responsible for Public Administration. A pilot version was presented in May 2000 and revised versions were launched in 2002 and 2006. A CAF Resource Centre (CAF RC) was created at the European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA) in Maastricht following the decision of the Directors General in charge of public service. It works in close cooperation with the network of CAF national correspondents.

The CAF is an easy-to-use, free tool to assist public-sector organisations across Europe in using quality management techniques to improve their performance. The CAF is a total quality management (TQM) tool which is inspired by the major Total Quality models in general, and by the Excellence Model of the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) in particular. It is especially designed for public-sector organisations, taking into account their characteristics.

The model is based on the premise that excellent results in organisational performance, citizens/customers, people and society are achieved through leadership driving strategy and planning, people, partnerships, resources and processes. It looks at the organisation from different angles at the same time; a holistic approach to organisation performance analysis.

Structure

The CAF has four main purposes:

To introduce public administrations to the principles of TQM and gradually guide them, through the use and understanding of self-assessment, from the current “Plan-Do” sequence of activities to a full fledged “Plan-Do-Check-Act (PCDA)” cycle;
To facilitate the self-assessment of a public organisation in order to arrive at a diagnosis and improvement actions;
To act as a bridge across the various models used in quality management;
To facilitate bench learning between public-sector organisations.

Highly appreciated in the CAF implementation is the involvement of staff. CAF is a joint project for management and staff and very often CAF is the first occasion in which management and staff meet to discuss the state of affairs of the organisation and the options for the future in order to improve efficiency and effectiveness.

The use of CAF in Europe

Over the past 10 years, nearly 2000 public sector organisations all over Europe have used the model and the number of CAF Users is still growing.

In 2009, the CAF External Feedback has been created to further support organisations in using the CAF most effectively in their future quality management journey. This procedure carried out by peers and experts in TQM aims at providing external feedback on the introduction of total quality management with the help of CAF, not only relating to the self-assessment process, but also regarding the path organisations have chosen to attain excellence in the long run.

This website provides all the available information at European level. We invite you to discover it and to contact us if you need further information.

Quality Development in the Field of Justice Patrick Staes and Nick Thijs Published: 2008	CAF - Movie Caf Resource Centre Published: 2007
CAF - pour un service public de qualité Editors: Elisabeth Dearing, Patrick Staes, Thomas Prorok Published: 2006	CAF works - better service for the citizens by using CAF Editors: Elisabeth Dearing, Patrick Staes, Thomas Prorok Published: 2006
CAF - wirkt – mehr Service und Leistungsqualität für alle Editors: Elisabeth Dearing, Patrick Staes, Thomas Prorok Published: 2006	Quality Management Tools in CEE Candidate Countries: Current Practice, Needs and Expectations Christian Engel Published: 2003

Patrick Staes (BE) Seconded National Expert Fields of Specialisation: Public management; quality in the public sector; Common Assessment Framework (CAF); consulting services.	Nick Thijs (BE) Lecturer Fields of Specialisation: Public management reform; comparative public administration; public sector quality management; quality models and techniques (Common Assessment Framework – CAF); consultancy services.
Ann Stoffels (BE) Programme Organiser

Director's welcome Organisation Board of Governors Management Our experts Eipa Corporate video	Legal notice Annual Report 2008 Annual Report 2009 Annual Report 2010 NEN-EN-ISO 9001:2008
In fulfilling its core mission to provide relevant and high quality services to develop the capacities of public officials dealing with EU affairs, EIPA works along three lines: Learning & Development, Consultancy and Research.