Fewer than half the citizens of Europe want to swap their currencies for the euro, according to a poll published in Brussels yesterday.

Public support for the single currency has dropped below 50 per cent for the first time since the European Commission began regular polling in 1993.

And the proportion of citizens who fear the end of their national currency has risen eight points to 52 per cent since the last six-monthly Euro-barometer poll.

It now ranks third in their list of fears about the consequences of European integration, after higher taxes (68 per cent) and the growth in drugs and crime (65 per cent).