European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Saturday called for more security and less unregulated migration during a visit to Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia and the seat of the African Union (AU), dpa reported. "Only unity will make our continents strong in a changing world. The African Union is a partner I count on," von der Leyen said during her first visit outside Europe as the head of the EU executive.

Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn, both hoping to be British prime minister in next week's election clashed over Brexit on Friday in the final head-to-head TV debate of the month-old campaign, news wires reported. The Prime Minister repeatedly criticised Labour leader's failure to say if he supports Britain leaving the EU while talking up his agenda.

European Commission’s Vice-President Margaritis Schinas and Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson held a constructive round of talks with the Turkish authorities on 6 December in Ankara, EC press service reported.

The real danger of excessive housing costs in Europe no longer affects the most disadvantaged only, but also an ever-growing part of the rest of the population, warned the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and called for more robust EU housing policies.

Zooming in on the challenges and opportunities that emerging new technologies can bring, was the accent of the First AI & Big Data for Innovation Summit, held at the European Parliament in Brussels from 2 to 5 December.

Spain will press ahead with the creation of a tax on certain digital services, following in the footsteps of France, Italy, and the UK, El Pais announced Thursday. This so-called “Google tax” could, however, raise the ire of the United States, which has already threatened France with sanctions over a similar levy.

France's Interior Minister Christophe Castaner announced Thrusday the creation of an office tackling hate crimes, after 107 Jewish graves were desecrated with swastikas in eastern France on Wednesday.

The Council of the European Union on 5 December backed plans for creating an independent agency to combat money laundering. In a statement, finance ministers asked for more “effective cooperation” among authorities, and urged the Commission to consider the advantages and disadvantages of “conferring certain supervisory responsibilities and powers to an EU body”.

The European Commission has selected 75 promising start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the largest funding round so far of the pilot phase of the European Innovation Council (EIC), worth more than €278m. The start-ups and SMEs selected for the EIC Pilot support in this round span across 15 EU Member States and 5 associated countries.

Finland's EU presidency proposed a 2021-2027 EU budget equal to 1.06% of the bloc's gross national income (GNI), which goes below the ambitions of both the European Commission and Parliament, news wires reported. The draft envisaged an overall ceiling of 1.07% of EU GNI (€1,087bn), and payment appropriations (the money that can be actually spent during the period) of 1.06% of EU GNI, representing €1,080bn.