Avramopoulos appointed Commissioner for Migration and Home Affairs

Dimitris Avramopoulos was on Wednesday appointed European Commissioner for Migration and Home Affairs as incoming Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker announced who gets which job in his team.

The new 28-strong Commission team was unveiled during a news conference in Brussels after weeks of national rivalry over some of the most powerful jobs in the European Union.

Juncker last week unveiled a list of 28 names set for senior positions within the Commission. They comprised 15 delegates from the centre-right, five liberals and eight socialists.

The appointment of Avramopoulos is good news for officials in Athens who are keen to see the EU revise the Dublin II Regulation, which requires asylum applications to be examined by the country where the applicants entered the EU.

Greece feels this places an unfair burden on southern European countries. The government also wants Brussels to step up its efforts to deal with irregular immigration.