after the appointment of an American to a key post in the EU, Paris asks Brussels to review its choice

The appointment of Fiona Scott Morton, a former executive in the Obama administration, to a key post in the European Commission linked to the regulation of American tech giants has caused an outcry in France. “This appointment deserves to be reconsidered by the Commission”reacted in particular the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Catherine Colonna, Thursday, July 13. “Europe has many talented economists”added the Secretary of State for Europe, Laurence Boone.

The European executive announced earlier this week that the American, professor of economics at Yale University, had been chosen as the new chief economist at the Directorate General for Competition. This service is responsible for ensuring the proper functioning of competition in the European Union and for investigating in particular the abuse of a dominant position by the digital giants, which has given rise to record fines in recent years.

Ex-consultant for large tech groups

Elected officials from all political backgrounds have singled out her former duties as head of economic analysis at the antitrust division of the US Department of Justice, between May 2011 and December 2012, or as a consultant for major tech groups such as Amazon, Apple and Microsoft. Moreover, this appointment comes at a time when the EU must implement new ambitious legislation to regulate this sector and fuels criticism of Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, considered to be very Atlanticist.

Faced with criticism, a Commission spokeswoman said Fiona Scott Morton’s new role was to advise on economic issues to Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager. She ruled out any risk of conflict of interest. Before appointing Fiona Scott Morton, “the Commission carefully considered whether she had a personal interest such as to compromise her independence” and she won’t be “not involved in matters on which she worked or of which she became aware in her previous employment”.