U.S. instructor rejects EU job proposal after backlash from legislators

July 20, 2023: American citizen and Yale instructed Fiona Scott Morton chose not to take up an important job in the heart of the European Union after facing significant backlash from politicians in the team.

Scott Morton was nominated to take the position of chief competition economist, a central position in the team of Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s competition chief.

“Given the political debate that has arisen because of the selection of a non-European to fill this position. I include determined that the best course of action is for me to withdraw and not take up the Chief Economist position,” she said in a letter to Vestager shared online on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the EU’s round chief faced intense questioning from European lawmakers for nominating Scott Morton. The criticism focused on her nationality and her last work consulting for Big Tech.

When asked by journalists in Brussels, France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, said on Tuesday that he was skeptical of the appointment and that this was not coherent with the region’s strategic autonomy goals. In recent days, different French country members have also expressed their concerns.

Jean-Noël Barrot, France’s pastor delegate in charge of the digital transition and telecommunications, said via Twitter, “At a time when Europe is embarking on the most ambitious digital regulation in the world, the recent appointment of the chief economist of the DG directorates-general Contest is not without raising legitimate questions.”