US economist pulls out of key EU tech regulation role after Macron criticism

Fiona Scott Morton tells Margrethe Vestager she will not be taking up job due to ‘political controversy’

An American economist handed a key role at the heart of the EU directorate that oversees the regulation of US tech companies has quit just hours after the French president, Emmanuel Macron, criticised her appointment as “dubious” and “extremely worrying”.

Fiona Scott Morton wrote to the EU antitrust chief, Margrethe Vestager, on Wednesday to tell her that she would not be taking the job because of the “political controversy”.