On Thursday 13 July, the French Minister for Digital Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot, asked the European Commission to review the appointment of the American Fiona Scott Morton as Chief Economist in the Directorate-General for Competition.
A professor at Yale University and graduate of MIT, Fiona Scott Morton is due to take up her post on 1 September. She would occupy a key position in the regulation of large companies, particularly in the digital sector, having previously worked for major companies in the sector such as Microsoft, Apple and Amazon.
Questioned on the issue on Wednesday 12 July, the European Commission gave assurances that Ms Scott Morton would take a back seat on matters relating to some of her former employers for a period of two years, and that a check would be carried out to ensure that there were no conflicts of interest.
“At a time when Europe is embarking on the most ambitious digital regulation in the world, the recent appointment of the DG Competition’s Chief Economist raises legitimate questions”, said the French Minister on the social networking site Twitter, referring to the Digital Services Act (DSA) (see EUROPE 13221/33) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA) (see EUROPE 13215/3). (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)