2023-07-14 14:45:00
DISPATCH — Yesterday we learned of the controversial appointment of Fiora Scott Morton as head of the Directorate General for European Competition. Today the leaders of the four biggest political groups in the European Parliament asked the Commission to drop his recruitment.
Endorsed by Ursula von der Leyen, this appointment created a stir in the European Parliament, in particular because Fiora Scott Morton is an American straight out of GAFAM. Enough to fuel fears of conflicts of interest.
Read also: An American accustomed to GAFAM at the helm of European competition
“We have learned with dismay of the appointment of Ms Fiona Scott Morton to the post of Chief Economist at the Directorate General for Competition”, write the presidents of the groups PPE (right), S&D (social democrats), Renew (centrist and Liberals) and Greens, in a letter dated Friday to EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager.
Even if the Parliament is not formally involved in the Commission’s recruitment procedures, these groups, which bring together 70% of MEPs, “oppose the appointment of Ms Fiona Scott Morton and ask the Commission to cancel this decision”.
“At a time when our institutions are under intense scrutiny from foreign interference, we do not understand why non-European candidates should be considered for such a strategic and high-level position”, they explain. .
As a reminder, the Directorate General for Competition is responsible for ensuring the proper functioning of competition in the European Union and for investigating abuses of dominant position by digital giants.
As AFP reports, the leaders of the four groups in the European Parliament, the German Manfred Weber (EPP), the Spaniard Iratxe Garcia Perez (S&D), the Frenchman Stéphane Séjourné (Renew), the Belgian Philippe Lamberts (Greens) say they are “very concerned about the opposing opinions” to these new legislations that Ms. Scott Morton “has publicly expressed”.
They denounce a “potential conflict of interest between his new role and his previous functions within large American technology companies”.
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