Dozens of prominent European economists on Monday declared their support for the appointment of Fiona Scott Morton as the European Commission’s new chief competition economist.
The appointment last week of Scott Morton unleashed harsh criticism, largely from the French establishment and the country’s business community. The concerns center on her American citizenship and her past work as a consultant for Big Tech companies.
“The European Commission and, more broadly, us Europeans are very lucky to have drawn someone of her caliber,” reads the statement signed by 39 top competition experts, including Nobel Prize winner Bengt Holmstrom and French economist Olivier Blanchard.
“Scott Morton is one of the best economists in the world in the domain of industrial organization, a major contributor to policy thinking on tech regulation, and strongly motivated for public service,” they added, and the Commission should “recruit the best possible collaborators in the service of European citizens, independently of their nationality.”
Assuming the appointment goes ahead, Scott Morton will take up the role on September 1, becoming the first non-European to take on the sensitive role. She will advise the Commission on a wide variety of competition matters including antitrust probes, big mergers, government subsidies — and the Digital Markets Act, which will place a straitjacket on Big Tech firms deemed to hold a gatekeeper position for digital services such as search or apps.
Several political groups in the European Parliament have also asked EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager to reconsider her decision. Vestager will address Parliament’s ECON committee Tuesday afternoon, her spokesperson said.