(COPENHAGEN) - While nearly half of Danes favour swapping their krone with the euro, there is mounting scepticism in the Scandinavian country to joining the eurozone, a poll published Monday suggested.

About 47 percent of Danes would like to abolish an opt-out that enables European Union member Denmark to remain outside the eurozone, while 45 percent want to hold on to the krone, according to a Gallup poll of 1,005 people on June 3 and 4 published in the Berlingske Tidende daily.

Eight percent of those questioned were undecided on the issue.

In a similar poll conducted in May, 52 percent said they would like to join the eurozone, while 40 percent opposed the move.

Denmark is a member of the European Union, but Danes rejected the euro in a September 2000 referendum, when 53.2 percent said no.

Denmark was granted four EU exemptions in December 1992 (on the euro, the EU joint defence policy, judicial cooperation and European citizenship) following its initial rejection, by referendum, of the EU's Maastricht Treaty in June that year.

The opt-outs enabled the government to organise another plebiscite in May 1993, after which the treaty was adopted.

Monday's poll also indicated that 55 percent of Danes were in favour of dropping the exemption on joint EU defence policy, while 29 percent opposed such a move and 16 percent remained undecided.

Joining the bloc's judicial and immigration cooperation meanwhile received support from 54 percent of those questioned, with 31 percent opposing and 15 percent undecided.

The poll also indicated Danes were largely against the idea of European citizenship: 64 percent rejected it, 24 percent were in favour and 12 percent were undecided.

Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen has previously said he would put the opt-outs to a referendum, but has yet to set a date and has not specified whether all the exemptions would be included in a single referendum or put separately to the population.

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