People should be more concerned about the direction Europe would head in over the next five years rather who will be leading it, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said on Monday.

Addressing a meeting of the Malta EU Steering and Action Committee, Dr Muscat said a lot of attention was being paid to the names of potential candidates to fill the EU’s top posts. But of far greater importance, he said, was the type of policy direction the EU will be taking.

Dr Muscat has been rumoured to be keen on taking up a top EU post and has not ruled it out, saying coyly that it would be a "long shot".

On Monday, he said the current European Commission had delivered on a number of fronts and would be a “tough act to follow”.

The upcoming European Council Summit, to be held at the end of this month, would be mostly “operational”.

Among the topics of discussion on the summit's agenda are the EU's financial framework - not just the amounts of EU funding but also funding mechanisms - and new funding challenges and priorities.

EU leaders will also be discussing how to revise regulations on industrial incentives to encourage businesses to relocate to Europe, as well as EU freedom of movement provisions.