The professor has advised large tech companies in the past.
(Photo: wikimedia)
Brussels In the end the pressure was too great. The designated chief economist of the EU competition authority, Fiona Scott Morton, will not take up her post in September. In view of the political dispute over the appointment of a non-European, the US economist wrote to EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager on Wednesday that she had decided it was best to resign.
In the past few days, there had been sharp criticism of the personnel, especially from France. On Tuesday, even President Emmanuel Macron personally got involved: it was “extremely worrying” for the European education system if you couldn’t find a European for the job. In any case, the USA or China would not think of hiring a European for such a post.
Five EU Commissioners, led by French Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton, also wanted to ask Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday to reconsider the personnel. Vestager forestalled that showdown in the commission by posting Scott Morton’s resignation letter on Twitter this morning.
In addition to American citizenship, the critics pointed to possible conflicts of interest.
In the past, Yale professor Scott Morton has advised large tech companies, including Amazon, Apple and Microsoft, which are particularly in the focus of EU regulators. As chief economist in Brussels, it would be her job to analyze the economic consequences of competitive decisions.
Hard defeat for Vestager
Scott Morton’s withdrawal is a bitter defeat for Vestager. The Commission Vice President had defended her personnel decision on Tuesday evening in the Economic Committee of the European Parliament. There aren’t many economists who fit the profile and are willing to take a temporary job in Brussels, she said. That is why the Commission decided in March to extend the search beyond Europe.
Vestager emphasized that Scott Morton was the best candidate. Her experience with private companies is an advantage, not a disadvantage. The assumption that she would treat companies from her own country differently because of her nationality is “questionable”.
The impression that Scott Morton cannot work on tech regulation due to her previous consulting work is also wrong. Conflicts of interest only exist in “a handful of cases or fewer”.
>> Read here: threatens the EU Google with busting
In these cases, the chief economist can be represented by another team member. Incidentally, the chief economist only has an advisory function and does not make any competition decisions.
Vestager had the backing of dozens of leading economists. In an open letter, they acknowledged that Scott Morton was one of the best in their field. But even that didn’t help against the political pressure from Paris.
Economists and Vestagers aren’t the only ones who think Scott Morton is a good choice: on Wednesday, several MEPs expressed their regret at the American’s departure. Green MP Sergey Lagodinsky, for example, criticized on Twitter that the debate would have been viewed as racist if you were of a different nationality. “We need a discussion about the differences between strategic sovereignty and silly euro-nationalism,” he demanded.
More: Vestager has to justify EU top job for American