  Einstein's general relativity can emerge from pregeometry, with the metric
composed of more fundamental fields. We formulate euclidean pregeometry as a
$SO(4)$ - Yang-Mills theory. In addition to the gauge fields we include a
vector field in the vector representation of the gauge group. The gauge - and
diffeomorphism - invariant kinetic terms for these fields permit a well-defined
euclidean functional integral, in contrast to metric gravity with the
Einstein-Hilbert action. The propagators of all fields are well behaved at
short distances, without tachyonic or ghost modes. The long distance behavior
is governed by the composite metric and corresponds to general relativity. In
particular, the graviton propagator is free of ghost or tachyonic poles despite
the presence of higher order terms in a momentum expansion of the inverse
propagator. This pregeometry seems to be a valid candidate for euclidean
quantum gravity, without obstructions for analytic continuation to a Minkowski
signature of the metric.
