10 April 2025, Warsaw, Poland

The 10th European CAF Users’ Event, held under the Polish Presidency of the Council of the EU, gathered over 130 participants, including a strong delegation of 22 representatives from the Western Balkans, 12 of whom were brought by ReSPA.

The European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA) and the European Public Administration Network (EUPAN) partnered with the Chancellery of the Prime Minister for two days to spotlight shared experiences and drive public sector transformation through the Common Assessment Framework (CAF).

The event was officially opened at the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, where Ms Anita Noskowska-Piątkowska, Head of the Civil Service in Poland, welcomed participants and underlined Poland’s commitment to quality-driven governance, emphasizing the importance of mutual learning among countries and institutions. Mr Marco Ongaro, Director General of EIPA, and Ms Cecilia Wikström, Chair of EIPA’s Board of Governors, also addressed the audience, highlighting the CAF’s role in enhancing institutional performance and building public trust.

One of the central moments of the event was the high-level panel discussion “Shaping the Future: Quality as the Cornerstone of Public Sector Success.” Moderated by Gracia Vara, Head of the European CAF Resource Centre, the panel included ReSPA Director Maja Handjiska Trendafilova, Gregor Virant, Head of the SIGMA Programme and Małgorzata Bywanis-Jodlińska, Director of the Polish National School of Public Administration. Panellists addressed how quality can act as a strategic foresight tool for anticipating future challenges in the public sector, with the presentation of the role of the ReSPA Regional Quality Management Center in the Western Balkans, SIGMA PAR Principles and the implementation of CAF in Polish Public Administration.

Director Handjiska Trendafilova explained that “quality management systems needed to become inherent to public administrations, especially in delivering complex services efficiently and building public trust”. She pointed out that quality standards were increasingly becoming central pillars of national strategies for the Western Balkans, where public administration reform is closely tied to EU integration, stressing that “administrations could be resilient, sustainable, and truly citizen-oriented only by adopting a quality culture”.

In response to a question on the role of the Regional Quality Management Centre (RQMC), Director Handjiska-Trendafilova highlighted ReSPA’s strong commitment to advancing quality management across the Western Balkans. She noted that ReSPA has supported 16 CAF implementations, with 2 more currently in preparation, engaging over 230 public servants across the region. Additionally, ReSPA has delivered 7 on-demand quality management interventions, facilitated 15 PEF procedures, and certified 38 EFACs (External Feedback Actors for CAF). Further, 168 public servants have been trained in quality management tools—primarily CAF, but also ISO and EFQM—demonstrating ReSPA’s hands-on role in building capacity and embedding a culture of excellence in public administration.

According to her, ReSPA had facilitated piloting, external feedback, and the building of regional CAF networks, all while maintaining strong partnerships with EIPA, KDZ, and national institutions. She also added that the RQMC had been instrumental in promoting a customer-focused, impact-oriented culture in public services and reaffirmed “ReSPA’s long-term commitment to supporting quality management as a cross-cutting theme in service delivery, EU integration, and policy coordination”.

Throughout the event, participants engaged in six dynamic breakout sessions that spotlighted best practices and innovative approaches to CAF implementation from across Europe. Highlights included case studies on empowering people from Austria, Belgium, and Greece; stakeholder engagement and decentralization efforts in Greece (Volos), Italy (Apulia), and Poland; Portugal’s standard for work-life balance; Slovenia’s strategy for continuous improvement; and a Portuguese research institute’s approach to staff development. Other standout examples featured Belgium’s Leertrac learning platform, Bulgaria’s digital communication tool chIPA, Poland’s use of robotic process automation in public finance supervision, and inspiring practices from Bulgaria, Georgia, and Spain focused on making public services more attractive and inclusive.

The “Transformative Processes” session brought together experts from Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia to present cutting-edge initiatives enhancing efficiency, transparency and service delivery in public administration. Facilitators Slaven Bukarica from ReSPA and  Michael Kallinger from the Austrian Federal Ministry for the Civil Service and Sport  set the tone by emphasizing collaboration and smart governance, facilitating discussion among representatives of 3 golden-case examples from the Western Balkans and Croatia:

Jovana Stojadinović and Danilo Rončević (SUK Serbia) showcased Serbia’s CAFficiency - a user-friendly platform developed by the Human Resources Management Service of Serbia to streamline the implementation of the CAF Action Plan..

Kenan Avdagić (PARCO) and Goran Steftatić (UNDP) introduced  Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Support Tool for CAF Standardization of improvement in local self-government units and digital readiness assessment. This project, a collaborative effort among multiple institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina and UNDP, aimed to enhance the efficiency of local governments. By developing a Support Tool for CAF that introduced a standardized set of 43 performance indicators, along with a Digital Readiness Assessment tool, the project helped local governments better measure and improve their services.

Dubravka Vukalović presented Croatia’s digital eSUK tool. The Ministry of Justice, Public Administration, and Digital Transformation has recently defined a framework for the implementation of a quality management system in Croatian public administration and developed a digital tool for quality management with the support of the European Social Fund.

As co-facilitator Michael Kallinger concluded, the session proved that the Western Balkans are embracing digital transformation and helping lead it.

In the final plenary session, Nick Thijs (OECD/SIGMA), Tihana Puzić (Deputy Head of the CAF Resource Centre), and Gracia Vara reflected on lessons learned and future directions. They emphasized the importance of embedding quality culture within institutions and pointed to CAF’s increasing relevance as a strategic tool in navigating rapid change and complex reforms.

The event concluded with closing remarks by Marta Kuzawińska, Director of the Civil Service Department at the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, and Marco Ongaro of EIPA. Both acknowledged attendees' high engagement level and reaffirmed their institutions’ commitment to advancing quality in the public sector.

With participants from EU Member States and the Western Balkans, the 10th European CAF Users’ Event celebrated key achievements, while ReSPA strengthened the foundation for deeper collaboration and knowledge-sharing to drive continuous improvement in European public governance.