Really European?

Every row, with its source

Filter by country, category or verdict, sort any column, and open the source before you quote a row: a verdict is only as strong as the document beside it, and the 102 rows with no document we could accept say unverified rather than guess. Switch the list to see the ICT providers EU financial entities report under DORA.

Method

What a verdict means, which documents earn one, what unverified means and how to correct a row. Nothing here is stronger than the evidence rule above.

The names people ask about

• Is Spotify European?
• Is Mistral AI European?
• Is Hetzner European?
• Is Proton European?
• Is Ecosia European?
• Is OVHcloud European?
• Is bol.com European?
• Is IONOS European?
• Is Pipedrive European?
• Is ownCloud European?
• Is Threema European?
• Is Wise European?
• Is Bolt European?
• Is Puma European?
• Is SAP European?
• Is Adyen European?
• Is Adidas European?
• Is Aruba European?
• Is Klarna European?
• Is Qobuz European?
• Is Sennheiser European?
• Is Vivaldi European?
• Is Bitdefender European?
• Is Sage European?
• Is Surfshark European?
• Is Viaplay European?
• Is TomTom European?
• Is Blender European?
• Is DeepL European?
• Is Hostinger European?
• Is Mollie European?
• Is Polar European?
• Is ESET European?
• Is MUBI European?
• Is Nextcloud European?
• Is SoundCloud European?
• Is Strato European?
• Is SUSE European?
• Is Tuta European?
• Is Element European?

Take it, cite it, embed it

The data is public domain (CC0 1.0). Download really-european.csv or really-european.json. Directories and vendors can embed a dated ownership badge that links back to the evidence.

Analytics Ascent research desk. (2026). Really European? Ownership of the products on Europe’s buy-European directories (Version 2026-10-18) [Data set]. Analytics Ascent. https://analyticascent.com/really-european

@misc{analyticsascent_really_european_20261018,
  author       = {{Analytics Ascent research desk}},
  title        = {{Really European? Ownership of the products on Europe’s buy-European directories}},
  year         = {2026},
  version      = {2026-10-18},
  publisher    = {Analytics Ascent},
  howpublished = {\url{https://analyticascent.com/really-european}},
  note         = {Dataset, CC0 1.0. Checked 2026-10-18}
}

Changelog

• 2026-10-18 First release: 216 rows (151 products from the five directories, 66 ICT providers to EU financial entities; 1 row is on both lists). Verdicts: eu-controlled 42, non-eu-controlled 42, pe-controlled 4, unverified 128.

Questions people ask

How do you decide whether a company is really European?

We follow the legal entity behind each product to the owner a primary document names: a company register entry, an annual report, a regulatory filing, or an acquisition announcement by a party to the deal. Only then do we say EU-controlled, non-EU-controlled or PE-controlled. Of the 151 directory products we checked on 2026-10-18, 102 had no free document that settles it, and we publish those as unverified rather than guess.

Do the buy-European directories check ownership?

None of the five we checked (european-alternatives.eu, goeuropean.org, only-eu.eu, buy-european.net, europeanpurpose.com) publishes an ownership check. Their criteria are headquarters, self-declaration or none at all. That is why a product can appear on all five and still have a controlling owner outside the EU.

Can GLEIF tell me who owns a company?

Only if the company holds an LEI and reports a parent. Of the 151 directory products, 76 have no LEI at all and 60 report an exception instead of a parent. Of the 18 where we verified non-EU or private-equity control from documents, GLEIF names a parent for 2.

Is a Swiss or UK owner counted as non-EU?

Yes, and the table says so. 10 of the 15 non-EU-controlled directory products have an owner in Europe outside the EU, such as Switzerland, the UK or Norway; 5 have an owner outside Europe. Read the owner country before quoting a row.

Can I use the data?

Yes. The CSV and JSON are public domain (CC0 1.0): no permission or attribution needed, though a link back helps others find corrections. Each row carries its source URL and the date we checked it.