American economist Fiona Scott Morton won't take up a job she was offered as the European Commission's chief competition economist after a political backlash culminating in criticism from French president Emmanuel Macron about the choice of a non-EU candidate for the role, reports Politico.
"Given the controversy that has arisen because of the selection of a non-European to fill this position, and the importance that the Directorate General has the full backing of the European Union as it enforces, I have determined that the best course of action is for me to withdraw and not take up the Chief Economist position," Scott Morton said in a letter published by European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager on Twitter Wednesday morning.
Scott Morton's decision to withdraw comes as the College of Commissioners was due to discuss her appointment on Wednesday, after five commissioners raised concerns about Vestager and President Ursula von der Leyen's pick for the role, according to Brussels Playbook.
The Yale University professor's former ties to Big Tech companies including Microsoft and Apple raised eyebrows, as she would have been in charge of advising on the Digital Markets Act, the EU law designed to tame those very companies.