Business & Entrepreneurship Journal, vol.3, no.1, 2014, 11-17 ISSN: 2241-3022 (print version), 2241-312X (online) Scienpress Ltd, 2014 Rethinking Boards Composition: The Perspective of Romanian and Bulgarian Women on Boards within the European Context Zuzana Kreckova 1 Abstract Composition of corporate boards shows very low presence of women at nearly all developed countries, although women represent more than half university graduates and more than half labour force in this part of the world. Also, several studies show better financial results of companies that have women actively present on boards. The paper presents situation at key world markets, with special focus on Romania and Bulgaria within the European perspective. The paper demonstrates that the number of women on boards has declining trend in Romania and Bulgaria. Consequently, the paper suggests implementation of provisions to reverse the trend and to reach proposed quota by European Commission of 40% of women on corporate boards. JEL classification numbers: J16, M10, M12 Keywords: Europe, corporate boards, management, quota, women, Romania, Bulgaria 1 Introduction Gender composition of Corporate Boards is a very topical issue. European Commission recently opened the debate on imposing quotas for members of under-represented sex on corporate boards. “The under-represented sex” mean mostly women. Women were historically underrepresented on Boards. Also, recent evidence shows that companies with women actively present on Boards and/or top management positions are reporting better financial results. Several countries are proactively promoting more women holding these key positions while other countries are lagging behind and criticising European Commission for high interventions in running corporations within their territory. Key stakeholders are asking: Are quotas just new EC idea or is it really important? 1 University of Economics, Prague, Faculty of International Relations. Article Info: Received : November 17, 2013. Revised: December 5, 2013. Published online : January 1, 2014