 She was appointed as Deputy Minister for Development in charge of privatisation and industrial restructuring, a position she left in order to become a European Commissioner.On 4 October 2009 she was re-elected as a Member of Parliament and served as Minister for Education, Lifelong Learning and Religious Affairs in the cabinet of George Papandreou.In her capacity as education minister, Diamantopoulou cited diminishing tertiary-education enrolments as justification for the abolition of minimum academic requirements for undergraduate admission which had long been suggested by the academic community and recently introduced by the state to ensure higher standards.