On 11 and 12 September, the first workshop of the EU-funded ANVIL project (Analysis of Civil Security Systems in Europe) took place at the School of Governance at the University of Utrecht. The IFSH was represented by Raphael Bossong and Hendrik Hegemann. The participants discussed the conceptual and empirical challenges regarding the 17 envisaged country studies. A detailed analytical manual will guide the gathering of qualitative and quantitative data and allow for a systematic comparison across the different countries. Furthermore, the workshop included an informal exchange with practitioners and crisis managers from several EU countries (Ireland, Netherlands, Romania, UK). They stressed importance of sharing empirically-saturated “best practices” in transnational expert networks. ANVIL aims to make a policy-relevant contribution in this regard at the EU level. Finally, the ANVIL consortium decided to aim for further activities in EU security research and outreach to decision-makers. The next ANVIL workshop, which will take place at the IFSH in February 2013, will present first empirical results and mark the start of the next project stage dealing with the comparative assessment of national crisis management structures.