M.S.S. v. BELGIUM AND GREECE JUDGMENT 23 option but an obligation for the administrative authorities (see, for example, judgments nos. 4055/2008 and 434/2009). 122. Subsidiary protection may also be granted in conformity with PD no. 96/2008, which transposes Council Directive 2004/83/EC (“the Qualification Directive”; see paragraph 86 above). (f) Ongoing reforms in the asylum procedure 123. Following the parliamentary elections held in Greece in October 2009, the new government set up an expert committee to give an opinion on the reform of the asylum system in Greece. Composed of experts from the Ministries of Civil Protection, the Interior and Health, and from the UNHCR, the Greek Council for Refugees and the Ombudsman’s Office, as well as academics, the committee was asked to propose amendments to the current law and practice and make suggestions concerning the composition and modus operandi of a new civil authority to deal with applications for asylum, composed not of police officers, like today, but of civil servants. It is also envisaged to restore the appellate role of the refugee advisory committees. 124. The proposals of the expert committee were submitted to the Greek Government on 22 December 2009 and a bill is being prepared. According to Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, speaking at a press conference on 20 January 2010 with the participation of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, the aim pursued is to reform the legislative framework “to bring it into line with the 1951 [Geneva] Convention on [the Status of] Refugees and with European law”. 2. Statistical data on asylum in Greece 125. According to statistics published by the UNHCR, in 2008 Greece was in seventh place on the list of European Union member States in terms of the number of asylum applicants received, with a total of 19,880 applications lodged that year (compared with 15,930 in 2009)1. In total, 88% of the foreign nationals who entered the European Union in 2009 entered through Greece. 126. For 2008, the UNHCR reports a success rate at first instance (the proportion of positive decisions in relation to all the decisions taken) of 0.04% for refugee status under the Geneva Convention (11 people), and 0.06% for humanitarian reasons or subsidiary protection (18 people)2. In total, 12,095 appeals were lodged against unfavourable decisions. They led to 25 people being granted refugee status by virtue of the Geneva Convention and 11 for humanitarian reasons or subsidiary protection. Where appeals were concerned, the respective success rates were 2.87% and 1. UNHCR, Asylum Levels and Trends in Industrialized Countries, 2009. 2. UNHCR, Observations on Greece as a Country of Asylum, 2009.