Steeds meer EU-functies voor nieuwe lidstaten (en)

The European Commission is on track to fill up posts assigned for officials from the ten countries that joined the EU in 2004, with Hungarians coming out top in filling the bureaucratic jobs.

The EU executive wants to boost its new member state employees from the current 1,627 to 2,180 this year and up to 3,441 by 2010.

Altogether, the commission employs around 20,000 people.

Hungarians have so far filled the most posts, while the Poles and Latvians are lagging behind, according to a report set to be published by administration commissioner Siim Kallas on Tuesday (4 April).

One commission official pointed out that some member states make an effort to get the best "brains" from among their nationals to work in EU institutions, while other countries are less active, according to the Czech press agency.

In terms of concrete professions, the commission has been trying to get enough interpreters and auditors, but also experts in the area of science, research and environment.