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irrevocably committed, but in which we shall
never enjoy the instant legitimacy of
founder-members.
The risk of our relegation
to the outer tier in a two-tier Community structure is the most dramatic illustration,
but there are many other degrees of
"marginalisation" short of this which could
tangibly affect our interests;
our place in and capacity to influence other
European cooperative ventures (eg WEU,
EUREKA, smaller industrial/technological
projects);
- our credibility and hopes of success when we
want actively to initiate European
cooperation in some new area (the positive
converse of the "marginalisation" point: cf
the ideas we have launched for greater
European defence cooperation eg in IEPG);
the maintenance of our standing in the world
at large, which is increasingly affected by
the relationship in which we are seen to
stand to the "leaders of Europe" and by our
success in mobilising Europe's collective
diplomatic resources. [Note: the most
important and complex example is our
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