BIRMINGHAM, England (AFP) - The European Union's bid to become the world's most competitive economy will remain a distant vision so long as its 25 member states undertake reforms at a "snail's pace", one of Britain's top business leaders was to warn.
The comments from John Sunderland, president of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), were to be made on the opening day of the annual conference of Britain's biggest business group.
Sunderland, who is also chairman of British confectionery and soft drinks giant Cadbury Schweppes, was to take to the stage ahead of a keynote address the same day from EU trade commissioner designate Peter Mandelson.
The pair were to share a platform just days after Dutch former prime minister Wim Kok said there had been "inadequate" progress on the Lisbon Strategy, a grand plan to make the EU the world's most dynamic economy by 2010, due to "a lack of commitment and political will".
Kok, whose nation holds the rotating EU presidency, gave an update to the strategy to EU leaders attending a summit in Brussels last Friday.
"With last week's Kok report showing insufficient progress on economic reform and a new European Commission taking shape, nobody can doubt that now is the time to tell it as it is and call for action," Sunderland was to tell business leaders gathered in Birmingham, central England.
"The vision of Europe becoming the world's most competitive economy remains very much a distant one. Some national governments are dragging their feet on delivering the basic reforms needed to make Europe competitive."
Sunderland was to add: "Frankly, the snail's pace of change is making a mockery of the Lisbon agenda and the drive for economic reform."
The CBI president was to insist that while British business is pro-European, "we would be failing in our duty if we did not speak out when policy makers endanger wealth creation and jobs".
The business grouping is particularly unhappy at recent Brussels proposals to reform EU laws on working hours, aimed notably at cutting abuse by Britain of rules which cap the working week at 48 hours across the 25-member bloc.
British Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown and French Finance Minister Nicolas Sarkozy were to address the CBI conference separately on Tuesday.
11/08/2004 - 00:10 GMT - AFP