EU leaders cagey on 'Future of Europe' conference

However, they emphasised that priority should be given to policies rather than an institutional revamp.

Leaders asked the incoming EU presidency of Croatia to hammer out a common position of governments before talks start with the commission and the parliament on how to set up the reform exercise - is planned to end in 2022.

"[The]European Council recalls that priority should be given to implementing the strategic agenda agreed in June, and to delivering concrete results for the benefit of our citizens," leaders said in a statement.

"The conference should contribute to the development of our policies in the medium and long term so that we can better tackle current and future challenges," it added.

The original idea was to first focus on the institutional reform, possibly setting up transnational lists and fine-tuning the lead candidate system (Spitzenkandidat) for the next European elections, but that has now been pushed back to tackle key policies.

In a nod to what is often perceived by member states as 'activism' on the parliament's side, the leaders also said "all member states should be involved "equally" in the conference.

Echoing the cautiousness of member states, their statement added that regarding the conference "there should be shared ownership by EU institutions and member states, including their parliaments".

Some EU diplomats are wary that if the conference descends into an inter-institutional debate, it will fail to engage EU citizens.

Brussels bubble issues

"We need a down-to-earth approach, a lot is at stake if this is not done carefully," one EU diplomat warned.

"We should talk about policies, not institutions. Outside of Brussels people are less interested in internal matters," the official added.

Last week, the parliament's the constitutional affairs committee adopted an opinion on the conference, which is the basis for a resolution to be adopted in January.

The parliament hopes the resolution would serve as a basis for the inter-institutional agreement on "the objectives, concept, structure, governance, scope, timeframe and format" of the conference.

The parliament also aims to have an MEP as chair of the conference. Former Belgian prime minister and MEP Guy Verhofstadt has been mentioned by parliament sources as a candidate for the position.

Some member states are also reluctant to change the EU treaty as an outcome of the conference.

"We should not commit that this process should lead to treaty change," cautioned another EU diplomat.

"The parliament is pushing that the chair should be from the parliament - but this is not the most important issue for Europe to solve," the official quipped.

On Thursday night, parliament president David Sassoli sounded trying to sooth leaders' cautiousness after talking to leaders.

"We want that process to involve other institutions. You need consensus if you want to reform democracy," he told journalists.