PARIS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th July, 2023) French President Emmanuel Macron criticized on Tuesday the European Commission's decision to appoint US citizen Fiona Scott Morton as its Chief Competition Economist, saying that it was "inconsistent" and undermined the European Union's strategic autonomy.
"I believe that the Europeans need to develop European competencies, to have strategic autonomy. (They) need to have independence of mind, while the appointment of Ms. Morton is inconsistent in this sense," Macron told reporters on the sidelines of the EU-CELAC summit in Brussels.
The French president also pointed to the lack of reciprocity from the United States and China in hiring Europeans at such key decision-making positions.
"If we do not have a single European expert of this level to appoint to the European Commission, this means that we have a big problem with all educational systems in the EU," Macron said.
The European Commission announced Scott Morton's appointment last Tuesday, citing lack of skilled professionals of this level in the EU. The chief economist of the Directorate-General for Competition is responsible for the European Commission's policies on competition and antitrust law.
A professor of economics at Yale University, Scott Morton has previously worked for the Obama administration, as well as a number of transnational digital corporations, such as microsoft and Apple, which many critics said was a potential source of a conflict of interests.
