European Commission picks Emanuele Tarantino as top competition economist

The European Commission earlier this month named Emanuele Tarantino as its next chief competition economist.

He is an economics professor at Luiss University in Rome, and his current research appointments include at the Einaudi Institute for Economics and Finance in Italy, and the Centre for Economic Policy Research in the UK. Previously he was an assistant professor of economics at the University of Mannheim.

The EC’s chief competition economist role has remained vacant since Fiona Scott Morton withdrew from the post last summer, according to Politico.

Tarantino, who is Italian, is also an advisor at the Bank of Spain and a member of the European Commission’s economic advisory group on competition policy.

In a press release announcing his appointment, the EC said: “His track record in advising governmental and private institutions highlights his ability to provide strategic and informed guidance on complex economic issues, which makes him highly suitable to advise on the economic aspects relating to the policy development and enforcement of competition rules in the EU.”

Scott Morton withdrew from her proposed appointment last summer following French presidential opposition to a leading US antitrust academic taking the role.

The EC did not say when Tarantino starts work in the post.