Fiona Scott-Morton doesn’t mince words. A month and a half after his ousting from the European Commission, the American economist expresses his anger towards the authorities who have spoken out against his arrival. And France particularly takes it for his rank, Paris being at the head of the voices opposed to his appointment. “I didn’t expect to be hired and fired in no time. This is not how my world works, ”annoys the economist, in an interview with the Telegraph published on Monday.
Saying she was “disappointed” to have been dismissed, the 50-year-old said she had reorganized “[her] life, that of [her] family”, in order to reach Brussels and work for the European Commission. Plans that collapsed in a few days. After criticism from France, and in particular from Emmanuel Macron, the American no longer had a choice: “The chief economist of the Directorate General for Competition must be legitimate, and have the support of the community which forms the European Union,” she told our colleagues.
Recognizing that she did not obtain the support of the Member States, Fiona Scott-Morton remains particularly upset against Paris. “If France and the French president are so worried about an American taking this post, then I think it would have been difficult to do this job well, because it would have been marked by political and bureaucratic quarrels”, justifies that who preferred, in the end, to refuse the offer, despite the unfailing support of the Commissioner in charge of Competition, Margrethe Vestager. “I didn’t want to find myself in a situation where a substantial part of European power wanted me to leave,” she also adds.
Despite his departure, the economist still does not accept criticism from Europeans, and especially from the French. “It is disturbing, and sad, that French society is so insecure that it rejects the idea that there could be a principled American who wants to work for Europe,” he said. -She. And to denounce the “ulterior motives” that some attributed to him, while voices described his candidacy as a “Trojan horse” for the interests of Washington and the Tech giants in the Union.
Fiona Scott-Morton also defends herself on her consulting assignments vis-à-vis Tech companies: “Governments have a choice. They may hire someone who has never done consulting work before. In other words, a person who lacks certain practical knowledge […]. If you want someone who has this practical knowledge, then [this person] must have done these consultancy assignments, and have this conflict” of interest, she warns.
The competition policy expert directly attacks the French president, deeming his vision “truly regrettable” according to which “the country appearing on [his] passport” can affect his judgment and his economic vision. “This is totally false, in my case. [Macron] probably knows that it is, in general, a bad way to select talents in an organization,” says the economist. And added that “France and Europe should be sufficiently confident to know that they offer attractive work for an American.”
The expert, who worked for the Obama administration, finally warns against the involvement of politics in technical appointments within the institutions, seeing in it an element “destructive for the independence of the European Union”. Words are hard. “There are people within the European administration who are ready to put their own wishes before the well-being of the people,” she criticizes, believing that the Commission above all needs to hire “whoever she wants” to operate effectively. It remains to be seen whether these remarks will be heard by the European chancelleries, which emerged divided from this controversy.
