A Greek national has been appointed in the top position of the European Union’s Migration and Home Affairs department.

As of Wednesday, Paraskevi Michou is the Director General of its Migration and Home Affairs department with the appointment taking full effect on 1 March.

Ms Michou who until now had been serving as Deputy Secretary-General is also the first ever woman to hold that post.

Having joined the European Commission in 1995, she has worked in several Commission departments since including as Acting Director-General in its Justice department between October 2014 and October 2015 which led to her current position as Deputy Secretary-General in charge of Institutional and Administrative Policies, Smart Regulation and Work Programme in 2015.

Ms Michou has obtained such breadth of experience across the EU’s board that she is considered to be one of the Commission’s key players in shaping the Commission’s overall response to the migration crisis, notably by steering the Commission’s crisis management on migration across all services.

In her new function as Director-General, she will work directly with Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos, in charge of Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, and with Commissioner Julian King, in charge of Security Union, under the authority of First Vice-President Frans Timmermans, in charge of Better Regulation, Interinstitutional Relations, the Rule of Law and the Charter of Fundamental Rights.

The outgoing Director-General Matthias Ruete will become Hors-Classe Adviser for strategic matters related to Energy Union, Security Union, Subsidiarity and Proportionality in the Secretariat-General also on 1 March until the end of this year.

“Both appointments will ensure continuity in the leadership and a smooth succession in the crucial area of migration and home affairs,” the official European Commission announcement concludes.