Copenhagen - Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Tuesday said he would "sound out" the prospects of staging a referendum on introducing the joint European currency, the euro, with other political parties.

Speaking to reporters at his weekly news conference, the premier underlined that he had no date in mind.

Rasmussen said he aimed to seek broad political backing in favour of the referendum, including the opposition Socialist People's Party that in 2000 opposed the euro.

The premier said that while the Socialist People's Party remained opposed to the euro it had signalled that it was prepared to shift its stance under certain circumstances.

Rasmussen said the current financial unrest posed "a great challenge" for a small economy like Denmark and its currency.

In 2000, a majority of Danish voters rejected replacing the krone with the euro.

Denmark joined the European Union in 1973, but obtained opt-outs that include security and defence policy, justice and home affairs and the euro after voters initially rejected the Maastricht Treaty in a 1992 referendum.

In August, in the wake of the Irish rejection of the Lisbon Treaty, Rasmussen had ruled out staging a referendum on the Danish opt-outs from the European Union.

The Danish premier and other political leaders have said the opt-outs gave Denmark less say in the bloc.

Rasmussen's minority government however needs to cooperate with the main opposition parties on the opt-outs since it cannot rely on its traditional parliamentary backer, the populist Danish People's Party on EU issues. (dpa)