<Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article relies too much on references to primary sources . Please improve this by adding secondary or tertiary sources . (February 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> The Common Assessment Framework (CAF) is the common European quality management instrument for the public sector . It is a free tool to assist public sector organisations to improve their performance . The CAF helps the organisations to perform a self - assessment with the involvement of all staff, to develop an improvement plan based on the results of the self - assessment and to implement the improvement actions . 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 and resources, and processes . It looks at the organisation from different angles at the same time, the holistic approach of organisation performance analysis ." On 7 September 2011, 2382 public sector organisations from 43 different nationalities or from the EU institutions were registered as CAF users in the CAF Database . </P> <P> The CAF Model is derived from the EFQM Excellence Model and shares the same 9 criteria . </P> <P> In 1998, discussions amongst the Directors - General of the Public Administration of the EU Member States in the European Public Administration Network (EUPAN) revealed that there was a need for a common European quality framework that could be used across the public sector as a tool for organisational self - assessment . As a consequence of this, it was decided that this quality framework should be jointly developed under the aegis of the Innovative Public Services Group (IPSG), an informal working group of national experts set up by the Directors General of the EUPAN network . The first version of the CAF was then developed in 1998 and 1999 by the IPSG and with the support of the European Foundation of Quality Management (EFQM), the Speyer Academy (which organised the Speyer Quality Award for the public sector in the German - speaking European countries) and the European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA). </P>

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