THE President of the European Commission, Mr Jacques Santer, has warned that any attempt to push back the timetable for European Monetary Union (EMU) was "unacceptable."

In a clear riposte to efforts by British Prime Minister Mr John Major to cast doubts on the 1999 launch date for a single currency, Mr Santer said "Any attempt to delay monetary union is unacceptable."

But the former French prime minister, Mr Laurent Fabius, said he did not think France would meet the strict economic criteria for a single European Union currency in 1999.

But Mr Fabius, who is now the opposition Socialist Party's parliamentary leader, forecast that the rules would be bent to allow monetary union to go ahead anyway.

His warning came as French private economic research institutes indicated increasing pessimism about economic prospects saying they now expect real growth of less than 2 per cent far below the government's goal of 2.8 per cent. The Government is shortly expected to revise its own forecasts downwards.

Mr Santer stressed that monetary union was "on track" and that between seven and nine member states would he ready to go ahead with EMU in January 1999, irrespective of the British opt out.

Mr Santer also said the issue of how those European Union countries which did not join the single currency at first would coexist with the founder members would be tackled.

"We will be looking in 1996 to see how we can make strong relations between member states who join monetary union the ins and the outs. We have to find solutions," he said.

At last month's Madrid EU summit, which agreed on the name Euro for the single currency, Mr Major warned of the likely fallout from the divisions between the ins and outs.

Later, Mr Major urged other EU members to think again about monetary union before it is too late.

Mr Santer also set himself against Mr Major by insisting that an extension of qualified majority voting, fiercely opposed by Britain, should be adopted at this year's critical inter governmental conference, which will set out the path for the EU into the next century.

The conference should opt for "wholesale reform in many areas, like in the common foreign and security policy and some extension of qualified majority voting in certain areas to make the EU work more efficiently" he said.