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About the European CAF Resource Centre
Our CAF Resource Centre operates in a spirit of open coordination between the members of the European Public Administration Network (EUPAN) and practises common European public sector values: openness, accountability, participation, diversity, equality, solidarity, collaboration and partnership.
Our mission statement is:
- to be a centre of expertise in CAF implementation promoting the CAF and good practices in its use in public administrations in Europe;
- to act as a complement to, and in coordination with, the existing national centres of expertise, and with a focus on countries without a national centre of expertise;
- to be a training and consultancy centre;
- to carry out research on the use of the model and further develop it;
- to support and stimulate the European network of national CAF contacts and the community of CAF users;
- to maintain the CAF database for registered users and good practices.
The European CAF Resource Centre was created in the year 2000 at the European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA) in Maastricht, following the decision of the Directors’ General in charge of public service. The centre works in close cooperation with the network of CAF national correspondents, who are the nominated persons to represent their country in the official CAF network.
Meet all the current CAF national correspondents in an overview below.
What we do
We debate in lively conversations with CAF experts and share best practices from experience.
We develop capacity building seminars to implement the CAF model in a harmonised and consistent manner.
We gather best practices across CAF users to foster mutual learning and share experiences.
We publish a quarterly newsletter “CAF SPEAKUP” to keep our network updated about our activities.
Our CAF Team
We are committed to supporting public sector organisations in their CAF implementation journey. We are passionate about improving public sector performance and are dedicated to providing high-quality support to the public servants working at the central, regional or local levels of government, as well as in international organisations.
We work closely with the CAF National correspondents network in Europe and beyond, as well as with the CAF users, experts and researchers, to understand their needs and provide customised solutions that help them achieve their performance improvement goals. We know the latest developments in the field and are always looking for innovative ways to help the CAF Network succeed.
If you are interested in learning more about how we can support your organisation’s CAF implementation journey, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. We would be happy to answer any questions you may have and provide you with more information about our services.
What is CAF?
The Common Assessment Framework (CAF) is a unique management tool for self-assessment and performance evaluation for public sector organisations. CAF is the result of close cooperation between EU ministers responsible for Public Administration, the European Public Administration Network (EUPAN) and EIPA. It is considered the European quality tool for good governance and excellence in the public sector, with a focus on digitalisation, agility, sustainability, diversity and innovation.
CAF is an easy-to-use and free tool to assist organisations across Europe in applying quality management techniques to improve their performance. It 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 by and for public-sector organisations, considering their characteristics.
The CAF model is based on the premise that excellence in organisational performance for citizens, customers, people and society is achieved through leadership that drives strategy and planning, people, partnerships, resources and processes. It looks at the organisation from different perspectives at the same time; a holistic approach to analysing organisational performance.
Are you interested in becoming a CAF user? Register below to be included in the European CAF database.
CAF2020: What is new?
Compared to the CAF2013, the basic structure with nine criteria and 28 sub-criteria has been preserved. The language has been simplified, shortened and is now more concise. CAF2020 reinforces the focus on digitalisation, agility, sustainability, innovation, collaboration (participation) and diversity. As a result, there have been significant changes in each individual sub-criterion and example. However, users of previous CAF versions will not find it too difficult to become familiar with the new version; compatibility with the predecessor, CAF2013, is ensured.
CAF News
CAF events
We regularly have events and web panels featuring CAF users, experts and national correspondents. Sign up and join our discussions!
Interested to participate in our events? Would you like to propose a topic for discussion? Please contact us
Subscribe to our newsletter
Please note that in order to receive our quarterly CAF newsletter
you need to check the box * Quality Management /CAF
You might also be interested in EPSA
EPSA – the European Public Sector Award – is a Europe-wide award scheme for public sector entities at all levels of government which has been organised every two years since 2009 by the European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA).
More than 1.500 projects have been submitted to EPSA, EU institutions and agencies and international organisations on the course of the past years. For all European public administrations, EPSA has generated highly valuable know-how and vital results that can be used for the benefit of providing innovative solutions and learning opportunities.