Danish cabinet minister Svend Auken said Saturday he fears that larger EU countries will create a multi-track Europe if Denmark rejects the euro in a referendum on September 28.
France and Germany would like to use a Danish rejection of the single European currency -- which polls indicate is likely -- to argue in favor of fast-track integration whereby a small group of states pursue further European integration, leaving the rest of Europe without influence on essential issues, the minister for environment and energy was quoted as saying in the Danish press.
"The defenders of a multi-track Europe are going to say that there are some countries who manifestly don't want to accept more developed European cooperation, like Denmark for example," Auken said.
Such a development would mean a "division of Europe into two classes, A and B, which is doubly dangerous for Denmark," Auken said.
He added that that the country's "influence on important issues would be weakened."
The latest polls by Vilstrup et Gallup published Saturday, five days before the referendum, showed an advantage of four to six points for euro opponents over supporters, of 45 to 41 percent and 47 to 41 percent respectively.
Between 12 and 14 percent of Danish voters were still undecided -- COPENHAGEN(AFP)
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