EU defends appointment of US economist in top job despite backlash
www.euronews.com
The European Commission on Friday defended its decision to appoint a US professor with links to Big Tech as the chief economist of its key competition department despite opposition from lawmakers and the French government. #EuropeNews

The appointment of Fiona Scott Morton, a former competition economist for the US Justice Department who has also lobbied on behalf of Apple, Amazon and Microsoft, has set off alarm bells in Brussels and Paris. Morton’s mandate would involve advising the EU Commission on investigations into alleged anti-competitive behaviour, proposed mergers, and the implementation of the landmark Digital Markets Act (DMA), the EU’s rulebook to rein in the market power of Big Tech firms.

  • @[email protected]English
    -2•1 year ago

    Morton has been hailed an “antitrust warrior” for her critical stance on tech platforms, and previously claimed her side-gig consulting large firms, many of which have been targeted by EU anti-trust regulators, was important for her research and teaching.

    While I understand being critical of any appointment for such an important position, I find the overall online discussion around this rather one-sided.
    At the very least, she does seem to be quite qualified.

    Questioning her loyalties is a very hypothetical argument and let’s be honest, it’s not like other top EU bureaucrats are unbiased and completely objective in their roles.

    A more interesting and concrete argument I heard was that there seems to be a rule that EU officials must be recruited from the member states.
    Does anyone know if such a rule actually exists and if it applies to this position?
    If so, that would render all other discussion around this appointment obsolete.