Hungary's European Union commissioner Laszlo Kovacs told MTI on Wednesday that his performance as commissioner in charge of taxation needs to be assessed on the basis of facts.

Kovacs spoke in reaction to an opinion piece published in the latest issue of The Economist which assessed the work of various EU commissioners and stated that Kovacs "left no trace of his passage through Brussels".

The article reflects the author's personal approach and not the actual performance of the various commissioners, Kovacs said.

"The author apparently considers confrontation as an achievement. However, in taxation policy where unanimous decisions are required, confrontation would thwart efficiency. For this reason, I had to resort to silent diplomacy to reach agreements," he added.

Kovacs said that in the official documentation assessing commissioners' activities, the list of his proposals submitted to the committee in Brussels takes up 20 pages and the majority were approved. These proposals have contributed to a more efficient functioning of the common market, improved EU's competitiveness, job creation, energy efficiency and climate protection, he added.