Laszlo Kovacs This article is about the politician. See also László Kovács (cinematographer). László Kovács (born 3 July 1939) is a Hungarian politician and diplomat, currently serving as European Commissioner for Taxation and Customs Union. He was the foreign minister of Hungary twice, from 1994 to 1998 and from 2002 to 2004. He is also a former chairman of the Hungarian Socialist Party, from 1998 to 2004. In 2004, Kovács was nominated to serve as Hungary's representative on the European Commission, which was to take office on 1 November 2004. His apparent unsuitability for his proposed role as Energy Commissioner was one of the reasons why the European Parliament refused to endorse the proposed new Commission. However, the Hungarian government did not nominate a new commissioner in his place, therefore in the revised setup of the Commission, serving from 22 November 2004, he was finally appointed to serve as Commissioner responsible for Taxation and Customs Union.