For centuries, Europe imposed its will on the world. Now the world is beginning to impose its will on Europe.

A photo taken at Turnberry golf course at the end of July captured the situation. The European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen was pictured smiling weakly, with her thumbs-up, next to a beaming Donald Trump. The EU had just meekly agreed to accept a 15 per cent base tariff on EU exports to America without hitting back. Von der Leyen and her staff literally had to grin and bear it.

The moment was all the more chastening because trade was thought to be the one area where the EU could stand toe-to-toe with global superpowers. The European single market is comparable in size to the economies of China or the US. The EU acts as a single unit on trade issues. In the months running up to the Turnberry debacle, there was plenty of talk in Brussels about European retaliation against the Trump tariffs.