Eurozone crisis: Danish opposition chief says will not hold euro vote

COPENHAGEN:The leader of Denmark's opposition Social Democrats said on Tuesday she would not consider holding a referendum on the euro if she wins a Sept 15 election even if the European debt crisis eases and growth takes off.

"A euro referendum will not be part of a government programme if we get the chance to form one," Helle Thorning-Schmidt, who polls indicate could be Denmark's next prime minister, said on the sidelines of a campaign event.

Danes, who will vote in parliamentary elections on Thursday next week, rejected a proposal to join the euro in a referendum in 2000. Instead the Danish crown is pegged to the single European currency within a narrow band .

The Social Democrats have agreed with the Socialist People's Party, a likely junior partner in a possible Thorning-Schmidt coalition government, not to hold a euro referendum during the four-year term of government if they win power.

Danish opposition to adopting the euro has reached record highs in the wake of the European debt crisis and in the middle of an election campaign that has avoided debate on the common currency, a new poll showed on Tuesday.

The poll published by financial daily Borsen showed support for adopting the euro had fallen to its lowest level since the autumn of 2000