EU: The shocking appointment of Fiona Scott Morton

The chief economist of the European Commission's Competition Directorate-General enjoyed relative anonymity outside EU circles until a few days. But the person who holds this position plays a central role in the decisions that may be taken by Margrethe Vestager, the Commissioner responsible for investigating anti-competitive behavior by companies, authorizing mergers and acquisitions and also validating state aid to the private sector. The announcement, on Tuesday, July 11, of the unexpected appointment of American Fiona Scott Morton gave this position immediate visibility, creating a heated controversy that the European commission Commission commission could have spared itself, less than a year before the European elections.

The candidate's profile is problematic for a number of reasons. Firstly, it is odd that the Commission should have chosen a US citizen for such a sensitive position in a Directorate-General where the notion of sovereignty is central. In principle, EU institutions are obliged to employ EU nationals. To depart from this rule for such a significant position seems incomprehensible.

The appointment is all the more shocking in that Scott Morton's background raises questions about the cases she will have to rule on. Presented as a brilliant lecturer at Yale University, Connecticut, and former head of the antitrust division at the US Department of Justice, her CV lists her profession as "independent consultant," which has led her to advise American digital giants such as Apple, Microsoft and Amazon. These are all companies that the EU is scrutinizing for their anti-competitive practices, and which it is now subjecting to new, tougher regulations.

Revealing a certain disconnect

The Commission argued that the American lobbyist was the "best candidate" for the job. That a group of 27 countries with one of the world's most sophisticated antitrust arsenals is unable to provide talent to rival the skills of Scott Morton is surprising, to say the least.

The Commission has attempted to defuse the controversy by saying that they are considering that Scott Morton could be excluded for two years from files relating to the companies for which she worked as a consultant. The argument suggests that there is indeed a risk of conflict of interest. Furthermore, if she has to withdraw from cases that are at the heart of the European strategy on the digital framework, her appointment loses much of its justification.

The fact that the Commission fails to see the devastating effect of such a decision is indicative of a certain disconnect. Every appointment has a political dimension, which Vestager and Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the Commission, pretend to ignore. This choice can only feed Eurosceptic sentiments, based on old anti-Americanism, which have been running riot in recent days.

With just a few months to go before the end of its term of office, the Commission can congratulate itself on the work it has accomplished on digital regulation, but this appointment is a wrong step that is fuelling populist reflexes on the eve of crucial European elections. The presidents of the European Parliament's three largest political groups (centrists, socialists and conservatives) are well aware of this. They are calling on Vestager to cancel this appointment. She would be well advised to listen to them.