The financial crisis "makes it evident" that Denmark needs to join the euro, Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Thursday (30 October), while recent polls show that 50 percent of Danes are now in favour of scrapping the krone. "The euro ensures political and economical stability in Europe and the current financial turmoil makes it evident that Denmark has to join the Euro," Mr Rasmussen said at the European Liberal Democrats annual conference in Stockholm.
Due to the financial crisis, Denmark's national bank had to intervene in the foreign-exchange market to support the krone, which is closely pegged to the euro, and to drive up interests rates to 5.5 percent, a historical high that translates into considerably higher mortgages and credits for Danish citizens.
Mr Rasmussen said that a referendum to switch to the euro could be held in 2011. Initially the Prime Minister was planning to organise a referendum this autumn, but the Irish No vote on the Lisbon treaty boosted the euroscepticism in the country, FAZ reports.
Danish voters already rejected several times the switch to euro. In 1992, they voted no to the Maastricht treaty which was only passed with an opt-out for euro-adoption. A referendum in 2000 on adopting the single currency was also lost by 53.2 percent to 46.8 percent.
Yet a recent poll showed that a slim majority of 50.1 percent of the Danes were now in favour of the euro.
The financial crisis may yet see Iceland join the EU itself to seek shelter. But Denmark's neighbouring country Sweden, who also rejected the euro in a 2003 referendum faces similar currency problems, has no plans to re-run the vote for some years from now, foreign minister Carl Bildt said earlier this month.
Source: EU Observer
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