I was kind of wondering about this. Back in the 80s and 90s, I was in the service industry and there was a conceit that “Europeans don’t tip because it is not done in Europe.” Of course, none of us vetted that information, and it was probably an oft-retold word-of-mouth holdover from perhaps 20-30 years before.
About 15 years ago, I picked up a “do’s and don’ts” book for international travelers. It turns out – if that book was generally accurate – that tipping something for various services in most European countries was by then very much expected. Almost invariably less than the 15%-20% recommended in the U.S., but still … tips seemed to have become an accepted thing in much of Europe by ~2000.
Anecdotally: it seems, though, that service personnel in Europe (very generally) are somewhat culturally (right word?) constrained from making too big a deal about NOT getting tipped any one time … like it comes off as gauche and whiney, even to fellow service staff.
In contrast, if an American server gets stiffed in a restaurant, that server will at minimum make a big deal about it with their immediate coworkers, and will receive much sympathy.