UPDATED: Top US economist quits EU job after backlash
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EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager said on Wednesday U.S. economist Fiona Scott Morton’s had decided not take up the post of chief economist at the European Commission.
Vestager gave no reason for the decision but it comes after a backlash at her appointment. French President Emmanuel Macron had on Tuesday slammed the hiring of a U.S. economist for a key EU antitrust job.
“Professor Fiona Scott Morton has informed me of her decision to not take up the post as chief competition economist,” Vestager said on her Twitter account.
Professor Fiona Scott Morton has informed me of her decision to not take up the post as Chief Competition Economist. I accept this with regret and hope that she will continue to use her extraordinary skill-set to push for strong competition enforcement https://t.co/8WSmWYc4LVpic.twitter.com/W3Zb34in7N
“I accept this with regret and hope that she will continue to use her extraordinary skill-set to push for strong competition enforcement,” Vestager added.Leaders of the main political groups at the European Parliament had also chided Vestager for picking Scott Morton, 56, chief economist at the U.S. Department of Justice during President Barack Obama’s tenure.
Scott Morton was supposed to advise the European Commission on its investigations into Big Tech and its enforcement of a series of landmark rules to rein in tech giants.
Photo: EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager (L) and U.S. economist Fiona Scott Morton (R)
