RQMC-PEF Network Meeting Highlights CAF Achievements and Paves the Way for Digital QM in the Western Balkans
30 May 2025, Belgrade, Serbia
ReSPA RQMC convened a PEF Network Collaborative Meeting in Belgrade, bringing together CAF users, EFACs, and quality management champions from across the Western Balkans. The event fostered peer exchange on the implementation of CAF and PEF (Procedure on External Feedback), strengthened regional collaboration, and celebrated major achievements in public sector quality management.
Director Handjiska-Trendafilova expressed her satisfaction with the growing adoption of CAF and PEF in Serbia and across the Western Balkans: "I am pleased that institutions from Serbia and the broader region have made commendable progress in implementing CAF and PEF. Their stories of transformation are a testament to our collective effort to advance public sector quality”.
The director also underlined ReSPA’s commitment to supporting continuous development and actively digitalizing CAF tools to enhance accessibility and efficiency. “Still, regional collaboration remains fundamental to deepening our impact, encouraging open participation and collaboration to strengthen public administrations. I am confident that today’s discussions and activities will contribute significantly to our shared goal of improving public governance. I invite all of you to engage actively, ask questions and share your valuable perspectives. Together, we can turn today’s insights into concrete actions that will benefit ourselves and the citizens we serve."
Zoran Kasalović, State Secretary of MPALSG, thanked ReSPA for supporting the Ministry in implementing CAF in Serbia and in building an administration that continuously monitors and improves its results, for the benefit of its citizens.
Ljiljana Uzelac, Head of Strategic Planning and e-Government at MPALSG, invited other institutions from Serbia to adopt CAF and continue with certification, following the example of other awarded institutions and contributing to the overall quality management improvement in the public sector of Serbia.
A highlight of the event was the CAF Certification Ceremony, where Director Handjiska-Trendafilova awarded CAF Certificates to Dragan Pušara, Director of the Accreditation Body of Serbia, Milan Pekić, Director of the Combating Drugs of Serbia and Bojan Glamočlija, Director of the Serbian Mine Action Centre. This symbolic moment honoured their dedication to excellence, transparency, and continuous improvement, underscoring the impact of CAF as a driver of public administration reform.
Danilo Rončević, Jovana Stojadinović and Marko Simić from HRM Service of Serbia presented the CAFficiency project, showcasing the CAF Online Tool and its transferability potential to other administrations in the region. This tool is set to modernize and simplify the self-assessment process, promoting wider uptake and deeper institutional engagement.
Thomas Prorok from KDZ Austria unveiled the latest CAF Study, with a spotlight on its application in the Western Balkans. Discussions also explored opportunities to further promote CAF across the region and to align practices with evolving EU quality standards.
Slaven Bukarica from ReSPA and Kenan Avdagić, CAF National Correspondent for Bosnia and Herzegovina, shared key updates on the revision of CAF Excellence Recognition (CER) and upcoming EFACs re-certification, helping to ensure consistency and reliability in the application of CAF across countries.
A pivotal segment of the meeting focused on the potential to digitalize CAF tools via the ReSPA Knowledge Management Platform (KMP). Participants actively contributed feedback on improving CAF digital tools—including the online CAF questionnaire and the CAF Action Plan monitoring tool—to enhance usability, data management, and monitoring of institutional progress.
This collaborative meeting set the foundation for an enhanced and digitally empowered quality management landscape in the Western Balkans. It reaffirmed ReSPA’s commitment to working hand-in-hand with regional institutions, KDZ, and other international partners to embed CAF as a transformative tool in public administration.
Through RQMC and PEF networks, ReSPA continues to lead the way in capacity building, knowledge exchange, and promotion of a citizen-centric, accountable public sector built on excellence and innovation.
RQMC of ReSPA has been a key driver in supporting the implementation and development of the Common Assessment Framework (CAF) and public administration reforms across the Western Balkans region. The CAF, as a European tool for improving public sector quality management, provides a structured approach to self-assessment and continuous improvement. ReSPA plays a pivotal role in promoting the use of CAF, providing training, guidance, and support to public administration institutions in the region.
In line with these efforts, ReSPA is organising an in-person meeting for the ReSPA RQMC PEF Network meeting in Belgrade, which will serve as a platform for knowledge exchange, capacity building, and discussion on the further implementation of CAF and PEF (CER) procedures. The event will also celebrate the achievements of institutions that have successfully completed the PEF procedures in three institutions from Serbia.
