It is an appointment that does not pass. Despite her remarkable profile, the arrival of Fiona Scott Morton as chief economist of the European Commission’s Directorate General for Competition is met with outcry. However, the 50-year-old ticks all the boxes on paper: a CV as long as her arm, cutting-edge studies, an exemplary teaching career and prestigious professional experience.
A renowned researcher and teacher, Fiona Scott Morton is one of the specialists in digital technology and market competition. On September 1, she will therefore take the reins of the economic branch of this crucial European body, directly responsible for regulating the tech giants. But two false notes have slipped into this harmonious score: Fiona Scott Morton is American and she regularly advises GAFAM. What arouse the ire of many actors, including the Medef.
Born on February 20, 1967 in Massachusetts, Fiona Scott Morton took the road to success very early. On the benches of the prestigious Yale University, she obtained a bachelor’s degree in economics in 1989, with honors “magna cum laude”. Along with a thesis defended in 1994 at MIT (Massachussetts Institute of Technology), another famous American university. High-level diplomas in hand, Fiona Scott Morton embarks on the teaching profession. She successively taught at Harvard, Stanford and Chicago, before returning to Yale in 1997 on familiar ground. She quickly rose through the ranks, to hold the Theodore Nierenberg Chair in Economics at the Yale School of Management since 2014.
The prodigy finds everything within these illustrious walls: from the recognition of her peers to her husband, Stephen R. Latham, who since 2011 has been director of the Yale Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics. For her part, Fiona Scott Morton plays on all terrains. Prolific, she connects scientific publications, conferences and speeches. To the point of catching the eye of the Obama administration. In 2011, she was appointed head of economic analysis for the antitrust division of the United States Department of Justice. A judicial body supposed to ensure fair economic competition in the United States.
His next functions, from 2013, are singled out by opponents of his appointment to the European Commission. Following her time in the Obama administration, Fiona Scott Morton was approached by the major consulting firm Charles River Associates. Propelled as a senior consultant, the competition specialist whispers in the ears of Microsoft, Apple and other digital giants. She focuses in particular on competition issues and merger-related disputes, according to the firm. A position she has held since 2013, alongside her teaching activities.
Even more than the nationality of the American – a point of attention, “at a time when our institutions are the subject of scrutiny in the face of foreign interference”, believe the European deputies -, it is her past. as a consultant and her worrying positions. And this, especially at a time when Brussels is trying to control the power of GAFAM. “Hiring an American lobbyist from GAFAM when Europe finally decided to limit their power, it’s a shame,” said MEP Geoffroy Didier (LR). For some, Fiona Scott Morton looks like the Trojan horse of American tech giants. Green MEP Claude Gruffat believes that this amounts to “bringing a wolf into the sheepfold”. It remains to be seen whether the protests of European elected officials and the French government will be enough to change the commission’s mind.
