What counts as Europe
The member states of the European Union, the other countries of the European Economic Area (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) and Switzerland. The United Kingdom is outside that area and counts as non-European here, like the United States or China.
The check
- Find the operator. The legal entity you would contract with, from the service's legal notice, terms and privacy policy, confirmed in the official company register of its country.
- Follow the ownership up. Shareholders, parent companies, funds, foundations and associations, as far as public sources go. For listed companies we read the shareholder and voting-rights disclosures, not the share count alone.
- Place the controller. Whoever holds the majority of the votes, or otherwise decides, and where they are. A private-equity fund is placed where it is managed; a family where it lives and holds its stake.
- Date it and cite it. Each verdict records the day of the check and the public sources it rests on, so anyone can follow the same path and see the same thing.
The four verdicts
- Verified European
- Public sources show that ultimate control sits in Europe: founders who hold the majority, a European parent that is itself European-controlled, a foundation, an association run by its members, or a European state. Only these companies are recommended.
- Not European
- Public sources show control from outside Europe. Many of these companies are based, staffed and hosted in Europe; they are still not counted as European here.
- Widely held
- The company is listed on a stock exchange and no shareholder or group of shareholders controls it, or the largest holders cannot be placed. It is not counted as European.
- Unresolved
- We completed a check and public sources did not establish who is in control: a cap table that is not public, investors whose stakes are unknown, or an operator that does not say who it is. Unresolved is not an accusation, and it is not a recommendation either.
What counts as evidence
Official company registers and their filings, beneficial-owner registers where they are public, annual reports and stock-exchange disclosures, the company's own ownership statements, and announcements of acquisitions by the buyer or the seller. Reputable press fills gaps, not foundations.
Every source we cite must be open to anyone without an account or a paywall. We do not cite private notes, and we do not infer control from an office address, the nationality of a founder or an incomplete list of shareholders.
Operations are separate
Ownership is one question; where the service runs is another. Where we have looked, an entry also lists the providers behind its website, hosting and email, and who controls each of them. A European company can still send its email through an American provider. That does not change the ownership verdict, but you should know it, and it decides whether a company can show the European supply chain badge.
When things change
Companies are bought and sold. When we learn that a fact behind a verdict has changed, we check again and the verdict follows the evidence, in either direction. The date on each entry is the last time we checked it. Badges are generated from the register, so a badge stops working the moment its claim no longer holds.
Corrections
If an entry is wrong or out of date, send us the source. Companies can ask for a check of their own entry the same way; being listed is free and nobody can pay for a verdict.