American economist Scott Morton withdraws from running for key EU post

In a letter made public by Margrethe Vestager, the EU Commissioner in charge of competition, Scott Morton said that “given the political controversy that has arisen because of the selection of a non-European to fill this position, and the importance that the Directorate General has the full backing of the European Union as it enforces, I have determined that the best course of action if for me to withdraw and not take up the Chief Economist position.”

A former competition economist for the US Justice Department who had also previously been involved with Big tech companies including Apple, Amazon and Microsoft, Scott Morton had been picked by the Commission earlier this month to become the new chief economist for the competition department (DG COMP).

The announcement that the high-profile job would be held by a non-European who had previously lobbied for some of the biggest companies in the world against which the Commission has opened cases was met with swift condemnation from members of the European Parliament as well as French ministers which the Commission dismissed ensuring she was the best person for the job.

But French President Emmanuel Macron jumped into the fray on Tuesday, insisting upon being asked on the topic that the European Union needs more strategic independence, and that the appointment implied there were no researchers of her caliber among the union’s 27 member states.

“Is there really no great European researcher with academic qualifications that could do this job?” Macron asked at a summit of EU leaders with their Latin American counterparts.

In a bloc of some 450 million people, “is there no one in the 27 member states that has a researcher good enough to advise the (European) Commission? That is a real question mark,” Macron said.

The EU’s executive commission announced last week that it had appointed Yale economics professor Fiona Scott Morton as chief competition economist in its department tasked with ensuring that “all companies compete equally and fairly on their merits within the single market, to the benefit of consumers, businesses and the European economy as a whole.”

Macron insisted that he has nothing against Scott Morton herself, an economist with multiple diplomas from elite schools.