They hope reforms on a macro-economic level will put the EU in a better position to cope with the current shocks sending tremors through the economy.

"With the Lisbon strategy for growth and jobs, the EU has the right policies and instruments to help it weather the current storms and continue to deliver growth and jobs," the European Commission said in a document prepared for the summit.

Besides the financial issues, the EU leaders are also expected to discuss topics such as climate change.

One year after EU leaders agreed on an ambitious greenhouse gas emissions package at their last spring summit, they will turn to details this time.

The EU leaders pledged last March that greenhouse gas emission should be reduced by 20 percent by 2020 from the level of 1990, and renewable energy should account for 20 percent of total energy use while biofuels take up 10 percent in fuel consumption.

However, it proved no easy task to attain the ambitious goals. The European Commission presented a detailed plan in January setting out binding targets for each member state, and it was not well received in all of the EU capitals.

A draft conclusion prepared by the EU's Slovenian presidency ahead of the summit even calls for the 27 EU member states to go beyond a 20 percent cut and target a more ambitious 30 percent cut.

Despite easy consensus on the overall targets, differences are certain to remain on how to meet them. Analysts are saying they expect no hard decisions at the summit.