The European Union and Tunisia signed Sunday a memorandum of understanding for a "strategic and comprehensive partnership" on irregular migration, economic development and renewable energy.

Speaking at the Tunisian presidential palace, European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen hailed the accord, which is "built on five pillars" and aims to "invest in shared prosperity".

Von der Leyen said: "Earlier we witnessed the signing of the memorandum of understanding on a strategic and comprehensive partnership. Our teams have worked very hard and I want to thank them to deliver rapidly on a strong package. This is an investment in our shared prosperity, stability and in future generations."

"We agreed that we will cooperate on border management, anti-smuggling and addressing root causes in full respect of the international law... for this we will make available more than 100 million euros of EU funding," von der Leyen says.

She added that the deal further provides access to the Erasmus Plus program "worth 10 million euro".