The issue in Europe is people simply do not understand how to cope with the heat.
What are you talking about? Hot summers have always been an issue everywhere. The problem is the intensity of high heat is now a more common occurrence every year instead of every decade.
AC is the idiots solution to warm weather.
And your solution to cool a house in the record summer heat is what?
The problem is one of house design, it's cultural (try get a glass of water in Europe without paying a euro for it).
WTF are you talking about? The problem is many homes are older in Europe and designed before central AC. As such adding central AC in the last 50 years was not easy for the average home in Europe. That has nothing to do with paying for water especially bottled water.
It's one of behaviours, and house design - our neighbour has huge windows, no awnings, sun streams into his house turning his entire place into a giant greenhouse
And what does that have to do with Europe in general?
We installed an awning and our temperatures drop about as much as theirs do expect we don't use electricity for it.
Well good for you. That awning helps with 100+ F heat so I take it so you don't use any electricity for AC when it hits over 100F?