From sense-making to decision-making: sharing experiences on the management of transboundary crises in the EU

On 4 April 2019, the EU Institute for Security Studies (EUISS), the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the EU and the General Secretariat of the Council of the EU (Integrated Political Crisis Response) organised a strategic foresight workshop in Brussels. The workshop brought together 70 crisis planners and responders from the EU member states and institutions that deal with cross-sectoral crises at the strategic level.

The event began with opening speeches by Raed Arafat, Secretary of State and Head of the Department for Emergency Situations at the Romanian Ministry of Internal Affairs; Florence Gaub, EUISS Deputy Director; and Professor Arjen Boin from Leiden University. Following this, participants were presented with a visual overview of the EU’s decision-making architecture and the EUISS presented their strategic foresight methodologies. The afternoon session was dedicated to a crisis simulation in a fictitious region, were participants had the opportunity to share experiences about national crisis response and to learn more about EU response mechanisms.