In return, Europe is now accepting not the biggest deal, but the worst possible deal. On top of that, it says"Thank you" and agrees to buy huge volumes of energy supplies and weapons (the announced amounts are so large that they will never be realized in this amount and most likely were not even officially agreed upon, as it turned out in the case of Japan; currently we import energy supplies from the US for 70-80 billion per year, and Trump promises that in a few years they will increase to 750 billion).

Economically, the deal doesn't really change much - no matter how much Facebook bots tell you how brilliant it is, all that will happen is that American consumers will pay about 15% more for European goods. This won't be the end of the world for them, nor for European companies, who will have to look for other markets. But the deal dismantles and degrades the current order of international trade to sham negotiations that can be repeated endlessly in the future.

In times like these, one simply wishes there were legitimate sovereignist political forces in Europe. Unfortunately, the leading party that adorns itself with this title in Bulgaria -"Vazrazhdane" - is constantly wavering in whether it prefers to become a satellite of Russia, or to somehow curry favor with the Republican Party in the US.

Europe had to show that it is a strong, international player, and not to conclude inadequate and painful deals by force. There are a number of tools that we can use - from the already existing measures to protect against unfair trade practices to more serious steps regarding digital concerns. When the laws of the jungle are at play, you have to be prepared and strong. Otherwise, you simply have to accept your fate as you are now. The deal is also harmful because it damages the legitimacy of the European institutions to claim that they always fight for European citizens.