Geplaatst op Door Jack P. Kruf

Common Assessment Framework (CAF)

European Union | 2000

The Common Assessment Framework (CAF) is a total quality management tool inspired by the Excellence Model of the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) and the model of the German University of Administrative Sciences in Speyer.

It 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 simultaneously looks at the organisation from different angles, taking a holistic approach to organisational performance analysis.

The CAF is a result of cooperation among the EU Ministers responsible for Public Administration. It is jointly developed under the aegis of the Innovative Public Services Group (IPSG), a working group of national experts set up by the Directors-General (DG) in order to promote exchanges and cooperation concerning innovative ways of modernising government and public service delivery in EU Member States.

A pilot version was presented in May 2000, and the first revised version was launched in 2002. Following the decision of the DGs in charge of public service, a CAF Resource Centre (RC) was created at the European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA) in Maastricht. In a strategic statement, EIPA pointed out how it wants to play its role as a European CAF Resource Centre and its objectives in this respect.

At the end of the Luxemburg Presidency on 8 June 2005, the Ministers responsible for Public Administration in the European Union expressed their appreciation for the fruitful exchange of ideas, experiences, and good/best practices between the Public Administrations of the EU Member States within the European Public Administration Network (EUPAN) and for the development and use of tools such as the Common Assessment Framework. They asked to integrate the quality approach with the Lisbon agenda. The CAF 2006 revision has taken this demand into account.

The CAF is an easy-to-use tool to assist public sector organisations across Europe to use quality management techniques to improve performance. The CAF provides a self-assessment framework that is conceptually similar to the major TQM models, EFQM in particular, but is specially conceived for public sector organisations, considering their differences.

The CAF has four main purposes:

    1. To introduce public administration to the principles of TQM and progressively guide them through the use and understanding of self-assessment, from the current “Plan-Do” sequence of activities to a fully-fledged “Plan-Do-Check-Act” cycle.
    2. To facilitate the self-assessment of a public organisation in order to obtain a diagnosis and improvement actions.
    3. To act as a bridge across the various models used in quality management.
    4. To facilitate bench learning between public sector organisations.

A number of components have been worked out to support these purposes and are explained in this brochure: the structure composed of 9 criteria and 28 subcriteria with examples; assessment panels for the enablers and the results; guidelines for self-assessment; improvement actions and bench learning projects; and a glossary.