The European Commission (EC) says that it has met – and surpassed – its target for recruiting to its staff citizens from Bulgaria and Romania, the two countries that joined the EU at the beginning of 2007.
 
The Commission said in a report on February 8 2012 that it had recruited 478 Bulgarians and 727 Romanians, exceeding its overall recruitment target by 23.3 per cent, or 228 recruitments.
 
"I am delighted we managed to identify and attract some of the brightest and best people from Bulgaria and Romania to come and work at the European Commission," EC Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič said.
 
"Both countries have made a big contribution to European history and culture in the past, and they have much to offer today, as Europe continues to integrate," Šefčovič said.
 
The targets were met within the transitional period covering the two countries, which ended on December 31 2011.
 
This transitional period is a regular feature of enlargements, as it allows the normal rules forbidding discrimination based on nationality to be temporarily suspended, to allow for the rapid recruitment of nationals from new member states, the EC said.
 
"The obligation to recruit officials 'of the highest standard of ability, efficiency and integrity' remains, however, which is why the Commission sets broad targets and not obligatory quotas," the statement said.
 
These targets were calculated with reference to the number of inhabitants of each country, the weighting of votes in the European Council and the number of seats in the European Parliament.

The recruitment from Bulgaria and Romania also significantly improved the gender balance at management level, the EC said.
 
Women managers constituted 60.3 per cent of all middle management recruitment from Bulgaria and Romania, and 46.3 per cent of senior management recruitment from the two countries. Taking all administrators and assistants staff into account, 75 per cent of recruits were women.