Research Report Presented to the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (Myndigheten for Samhällskydd och Beredskap) March 2014 In an era of transboundary crises, Europe faces the daunting challenge of coordinating joint responses in an effective and timely way. Recent transboundary crises such as the Icelandic Ash Cloud (2010), food contamination incidents and the financial breakdown revealed a key part of that challenge: sifting through relevant information, building an accurate picture of what is happening, and communicating that analysis to political decision-makers. Academic researchers refer to this process in terms of ‘sense-making’. To create joint capacity for sense-making is one of the prominent elements of the EU’s ambitions to play a role in the management of transboundary crises. The number of early-warning, rapid-alert, and common communication platforms in the EU has multiplied in recent years but with little central guidance or overall rationale. This report tries to ‘make sense of sense-making’ tools in the EU by providing the most comprehensive overview to date. We ask what sense-making tools are available at the EU level, document what they are intended to do, and explore what these tools offer in terms of ‘added-value’ to European states. Using official documents, secondary literature and interviews with policy officials, this report maps the sense-making landscape of the EU. After drawing out key patterns and offering an inventory of tools relevant to sense-making, we conclude by discussing the problems and prospects of the EU’s role. Forskning finansierad av MSB