László Kovács (politician)
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- This article is about the politician. See also László Kovács (cinematographer).
László Kovács (pronounced /ˈlaːsloː ˈkovaːʧ/) (born 3 July 1939 in Budapest) 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 also served as chairman of the Hungarian Socialist Party from 1998 to 2004.
In 2004, Kovács was nominated to serve as the Hungarian member of 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 as Commissioner responsible for Taxation and Customs Union.
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| Preceded by: Frits Bolkestein (as part of wider portfolio) |
European Commissioner for Taxation and Customs Union 2004–2009 |
Succeeded by: — |
| Preceded by: Péter Balázs |
Hungarian European Commissioner 2004–2009 |
Succeeded by: — |
