Indeed. Despite the rantings of the nutters in the ERG, we're always has a bigger say than we should have in Europe. We were well regarded for our diplomatic clout and we rarely failed to get what we wanted - it's hard to name a time when Britain was railroaded into something at all important that we didn't want to do. Schengen, Euro, Social Chapter, Security and Justice - we had our way when we wanted it.
However, this debacle has destroyed all those years of patient diplomacy. Even if there's a referendum and we end up staying, the damage to our reputation within Europe will last for years.
Vin
To be fair, Margaret Thatcher damaged it pretty badly. We were just beginning to recover from being seen as terminally awkward, when along came David Cameron.
Anyone seeing a pattern here?