Posted
Video length: 1 min.
It is an appointment that does not pass within the European Commission, Fiona Scott Morton must become chief economist at the Directorate General for Competition. Problem: she is American and has worked for large companies.
The appointment to the post of chief economist at the European Commission triggered a storm, until French President Emmanuel Macron reacted. “I would be completely open to such a configuration, if I saw the Americans hiring a European researcher to be at the heart of the decisions of the White House or the Chinese doing the same. I see that by law, they are prevented from doing so”he said, Tuesday, July 18.
A recognized economist
Recognized economist, Fiona Scott Morton has notably advised the Obama Government, but also Microsoft or Apple and this is precisely what is creating a stir. She will work, in fact, in the Competition Department and therefore in the digital sector. Margrethe Vestager, the vice-president of the committee which chose her, tried to reassure by asserting before the European Parliament that at this stage there is no “no indication of a generalized conflict of interest”.