"force the pace" is a correct and usable phrase in written English.
It is often used to mean accelerating or taking quick action. For example, "We must force the pace if we are to hit our deadline."
But it does not want to force the pace.
New rules brewing in the European Union could force the pace.
But the pressure to reduce spending is likely to force the pace of change.
Yet the Commission seems reluctant to use its full powers to force the pace.
And I am willing to go further, and take concrete steps to force the pace".
A yes vote would force the pace; but no should, too.
Cameron pledged last year to "take concrete steps to force the pace" of change.
So liberalisers may have ulterior motives in mind, calculating that external liberalisation will force the pace of domestic financial reform.
Blair was never able to force the pace on key issues such as the decommissioning of IRA weapons.
But when real change is afoot, technology can force the pace – whether under a repressive regime or an established democracy.
Europe lacks the political will to force the pace of integration necessary to avoid disintegration of the single currency.
