The world experiences crises that increasingly involve multiple systems across large areas, and extend globally. These include the 2008 financial crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, the crises engendered by the war in Ukraine and the crises caused by climate change. The common characteristics of those threats and their impact on societies include the presence of multi-risk factors likely to provoke cascading impacts across increasingly interconnected sectors. The speed of change and the complexity of crises are increasing, and consequent processes are more often irreversible. Focusing on the systemic approach required by the complex nature of threats and their impacts on society, this scientific opinion provides policy recommendations on how the EU can improve its strategic crisis management and could better prepare for, respond to and recover from crises. This scientific opinion informed by the SAPEA Evidence Review Report is co-issued with a Statement Values in times of crisis: Strategic crisis management in the EU by The European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies (EGE).