France\u2019s biggest business group MEDEF Monday joined the country\u2019s government in urging the European Commission to reconsider its appointment of a former US Justice Department official to serve as chief economist for Brussels\u2019 top antitrust regulator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The European Commission last week named Fiona Scott Morton<\/a> as chief economist of the commission\u2019s directorate general for competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Morton, a Yale professor, served as chief economist of the Justice Department\u2019s antitrust division from May 2011 to December 2012, according to her LinkedIn profile. She has also lobbied for big US tech companies including Amazon and Apple, according to reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MEDEF noted that the DOJ has hit several European and French companies for violating US law, in particular BNP Paribas and Airbus, with heavy sanctions. \u201cAt the same, it has spared American companies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAt a moment when it is imperative for the European Union to regain its sovereignty and strategic autonomy, with world economic competition more and more exacerbated, it is regrettable see in the [Brussels] administration so much naivety and indifference,\u201d MEDEF said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MEDEF\u2019s press release<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Last week, France\u2019s minister of foreign affairs, Catherine Colonna, citing Morton\u2019s lobbying work for American big tech, urged the commission to withdraw the nomination, AFP\u00a0reported<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In European Parliament, MP groups from France, Germany, Spain, and Belgium wrote to the commission asking for the nomination to be withdrawn.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" France\u2019s biggest business group MEDEF Monday joined the country\u2019s government in urging the European Commission to reconsider its appointment of a former US Justice Department official to serve as chief economist for Brussels\u2019 top antitrust regulator. The European Commission last … Continue reading