TALLINN — EU leaders enjoyed their get-together in Estonia so much that they want more summits from now on.

European Council President Donald Tusk said Friday that one of the concrete outcomes of the gathering in Tallinn was that he would present a new, more intensive work plan for leaders, effectively laying out an agenda from now until a special summit in Sibiu, Romania on March 30, 2019 — the day after the U.K.'s expected departure from the EU.

"Yesterday evening we had a good and constructive debate," Tusk said, arriving at a conference on digital issues that served as the official basis for the leaders' gathering in Estonia. "I will use this debate to build what I could call the leaders' agenda 2017 and 2018, of course in consultation with all the member states, and I will present this political agenda in two weeks' time."

Tusk acknowledged that some leaders may be weary from a series of recent big-thought speeches on the future of Europe, including from European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and French President Emmanuel Macron.

Macron himself backed the idea of more frequent get-togethers.

"I believe we are all convinced today that Europe needs to move forward faster and stronger, for more sovereignty, more unity and more democracy,” he told reporters in Tallinn. “There is consensus, in any case, that we want to move on,” Macron said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has previously expressed support for the idea of more frequent leader gatherings, and Macron did so at the Tallinn dinner as well, aides said.

Eurovision speech contest

Tusk said he found the recent big-picture speeches helpful in fomenting debate and generating new ideas.

"There have been plenty," Tusk said referring to ideas (and speeches). "But even though some may think it is a kind of a Eurovision contest, and perhaps it is ... I am personally convinced that together, we will make good use of it, if we sing in unison."

Aides said the decision to put forward a more concrete agenda grew out of a sense of urgency among leaders at dinner on Thursday to demonstrate to citizens real purpose and the relevance of the EU amid a lingering threat of populism.

While anti-EU candidates were defeated in national elections this year in the Netherlands and France, creating a sense of relief in Brussels, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) on Sunday became the first far-right party to win seats in the Bundestag since World War II.

At the dinner, which was also attended by U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May, the leaders of the 27 remaining EU countries loudly reiterated their commitment to maintaining unity throughout the Brexit process. The U.K.'s departure has created another imperative for leaders to meet more frequently, aides said.

An October summit in Brussels, where leaders are expected to assess the Brexit negotiations and likely conclude that there has not been sufficient progress to move to the next phase, will be an opportunity to discuss Tusk's new work plan. A previously scheduled "social summit" in Gothenburg, Sweden on November 17 will provide a chance for the leaders to meet again, and another summit is due in Brussels in December. More regular gatherings, perhaps even monthly, will continue through 2018, aides said.

Tusk, in his comments Friday, said: "In this process, I will respect as always three key principles: one, the need to find real solutions to real problems; two, the need to make progress step-by-step, issue-by-issue; three, and above all, the need to keep the unity of the 27 member states, also in the context of the new ideas."

Tusk’s plan will give the EU at least its second roadmap into the future. Juncker announced his cartographic efforts on behalf of the EU in his State of the Union speech in mid-September, saying: “This morning I sent a roadmap to [European Parliament] President [Antonio] Tajani, President Tusk as well as to the holders of the rotating presidencies of the Council between now and March 2019, outlining where we should go from here.”

And there is at least one common stop on both maps: the historic Transylvanian city of Sibiu in Romania, which will hold the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU in the first half of 2019. Juncker proposed a special leaders’ summit there, an idea that Tusk endorsed. Romanian President Klaus Iohannis extended a formal invitation to leaders at the dinner in Tallinn.

Florian Eder contributed reporting.