The European Parliament has weighed into the row over the appointment of the American former tech lobbyist, Fiona Scott Morton, as the chief economist of the European Commission’s powerful competition department, demanding that the EU executive re-open the process.
In a letter published on Friday (14 July) to European Commission Executive Vice-President, Margrethe Vestager, the leaders of four of the Parliament’s main political groups urged the EU executive to reverse its decision on 11 July.
The main objections to Scott Morton, who is also a former Yale University professor and official in former US President Barack Obama’s administration, appear to lie in her previous roles as a consultant for Big Tech companies and the fact that she is an American citizen.
She is expected to take up the role in September.
The position is one of the most senior civil servant posts in the EU executive, responsible for advising the bloc’s competition Commissioner on state aid and mergers and acquisitions, as well as broader economic policy.
“At a time of intense scrutiny of our Institutions vis-a-vis foreign interference, we fail to understand the consideration of non-EU candidates for such a high-ranking and strategic position,” stated the letter, which was co-signed by EPP leader Manfred Weber, Iratxe García Pérez of the Socialists and Democrats, Renew Europe leader Stéphane Séjourné and the Green’s Philippe Lamberts.
The Commission’s decision-making on internal appointments “cannot contradict with the general principles, interests and objectives of our Union,” they added.
French slam choice of US economist for top EU job
The European Commission’s appointment of an American economist to a top job in its competition department has prompted a backlash from French politicians, with the digital minister “inviting the Commission to re-examine the matter”.
The group leaders also pointed to the implementation of the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which came into force in May and will dominate DG COMP’s work in the coming months and years, commenting that “we are very concerned about the opposite views she (Scott Morton) publicly expressed and the potential conflict of interests between her new role and her previous functions with large American tech companies”.
“At a time of worldwide economic competition, we remain very attached to an independent industrial policy as well as the digital sovereignty of our continent,” the letter concludes.
The latter point is a nod to the campaign, led by French President Emmanuel Macron, for the EU to develop ‘strategic autonomy’ in key sectors such as industry, defence and digital, and dramatically reduce its reliance on the United States and China.
The appointment to the department, known as DG COMP, prompted an angry backlash from senior French politicians, EURACTIV France reported, with Europe Minister Catherine Colonna saying she was “astonished” by the appointment.
The reaction in France and the European Parliament also reflects a wider jockeying for positions for top EU jobs among European capitals.
[Edited by Nathalie Weatherald]
Read more with EURACTIV
Second Romanian minister quits after ‘horror asylums’ scandalRomania’s Minister of Family Gabriela Firea became the second cabinet minister to resign this week after a scandal with “horror asylums” for the elderly shook the country and the ruling Social Democratic Party (PSD).
Source: euractiv.com
