Decision on Danish euro referendum in next two months: PM

The Danish government expects to decide within two months on the date of a referendum on joining the eurozone, Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said during a visit to Hungary on Friday. "Denmark has to become a full-fledged member of the eurozone," Rasmussen said after receiving an honorary degree at the Corvinus University of Budapest. Denmark has already voted twice against introducing the common currency of now 15 members of the European Union. Denmark was granted four exemptions in 1992 -- on the euro, the EU joint defence policy, judicial cooperation and European citizenship -- following its initial rejection by referendum of the Maastricht Treaty in June that year. Parliamentary negotiations are under way on a date for a referendum and to decide whether all its exemptions will be considered in a single vote. A poll published Friday suggested Danes were in favour of abolishing all the exemptions apart from European citizenship. Some 54 percent of Danes said they would vote to adopt the euro currency, 42 percent were against the idea and four percent remained undecided, according to the Green Analysis poll published in the financial daily Boersen. Sixty-three percent said they wanted Denmark to adopt the EU's joint defence policy, while 22 percent were opposed and 15 percent were undecided, said the study which surveyed 1,009 people between May 5-7. Danes were however more divided on judicial and immigration cooperation within the 27-member bloc, with 38 percent in favour, 30 percent against and 31 percent undecided. The poll indicated Danes were largely against the idea of European citizenship: 49 percent rejected it, 30 percent were in favour and 21 percent were undecided. Rasmussen has not specified whether all the exemptions will be included in a single referendum or put separately to the population. Semi-public TV2 reported Friday the government was planning to organise one referendum on joint defence and judiciary policy in September and another on the euro at a later date. If a single referendum were held on all four opt-outs, 43 percent would vote in favour of their abolition while 39 percent would vote against and 18 percent were undecided, the poll showed. Slovakia is set to become the eurozone's 16th member on January 1, 2009. It will be the first country in former communist Central Europe to adopt the euro and the second, following Slovenia, in the former Yugoslavia, to join the club of mostly rich Western countries.