The CBI at Harrogate: Western Europe / Delors warns against sabotage of progress towards integration: Michael Harrison and Mary Fagan round up developments at yesterday's conference

JACQUES DELORS, president of the European Commission, yesterday warned Euro-sceptics that progress towards European integration must not be sabotaged by 'unscrupulous individuals' - a reference, senior Brussels sources said, to opponents of the Maastricht treaty.

In a hard-hitting speech to the CBI conference, Mr Delors said dangerous forces were at work, intent on undermining the progress that had painstakingly been achieved in the past 35 years.

The EC president was unable to appear in person because of flu but his speech, delivered by a colleague, was forceful for all that.

He also took a side-swipe at his critics in the business world, arguing that Europe's long-term growth strategy could not be achieved solely by competing on costs.

'Competitiveness should not depend on low pay,' he said. 'Competitiveness is something we should be striving for in order to be able to pay high wages, to provide the social protection our society needs and to increase our standard of living.'

The comments were aimed at organisations such as the CBI, which has lobbied fiercely against the high social costs being imposed on employers by EU legislation.

On the political front, Mr Delors said it was understandable that at a time of recession and high unemployment countries such as Britain should pursue domestic agendas as a solution to their problems. But he warned that increased prosperity could not be generated by adopting inward-looking policies.

'Unscrupulous individuals and groups are exploiting the present political vacuum with regard to the future course of European integration,' he said.

Mr Delors' robust speech received an equally vigorous response from the conference, with delegates lining up to attack Brussels bureaucracy, over-regulation and ineffectual enforcement of legislation that had been brought in under the single market.

Ian Martin, managing director of Grand Metropolitan, the drinks group, said more EU legislation should not be allowed to erode the competitiveness of European business. He warned that the levels of non-wage labour costs in Europe were far higher than those in competitor countries.

He also criticised uneven enforcement of EU legislation, saying that only 95 of the 264 single market directives adopted by member states had reached the statute books in every country.

Other speakers accused the European Commission of ineptitude in its application of policy and in the welter of legislation emanating from Brussels. EU sources later argued, however, that the volume of EU legislation was 'falling like a stone'.