British Prime Minister David Cameron has issued a warning to Brussels not to stand in the way of the country’s drive to exploit its reserves of shale gas through controversial fracking technology.

Addressing the World Economic Forum in Davos, he said the development of “cheap and predictable” energy sources could help to reverse the “off-shoring” of European jobs to the rising economic powers of Asia where labour costs are lower.

But he warned that opportunities presented by shale gas – which helped transform the US economy – could be undermined if the EU tried to impose unnecessary regulations.

“We should be clear that if the European Union or its member states impose burdensome, unjustified or premature regulatory burdens on shale gas exploration in Europe investors will quickly head elsewhere,” he said.

He acknowledged concerns about fracking, but insisted that if done properly, it could benefit the economy and environment.

In his speech, Mr Cameron sought to counter the “dystopian vision” that the West was locked in a cycle of “inevitable decline” compared to a resurgent East.

“For years the West has been written off. People say that we are facing some sort of inevitable decline.

“They say we can’t make anything any more,” he said. “Whether it’s the shift from manufacturing to services, or the transfer from manual jobs to machines, the end point is the same dystopian vision; the East wins while the West loses; the workers lose while the machines win.

“If we make the right decisions, we may see more of what has been a small but discernible trend where some jobs that were once off-shored are coming back from East to West.”

Mr Cameron also said he was confident he could renegotiate Britain’s relations with the EU to allow it to remain in the 28-nation bloc.