Smart Chip Cards in Europe

In Europe our credit cards are way behind the times. They use a card with a chip and ours does not have one. We use American Express and usually have no problem, but one thing we notice is that our cards never leave our table -- that is true in Canada as well -- the wait staff bring the machine to us and we enter the amount including tip -- if any. Many countries in Europe do not have the tradition of tipping.  In the United States we hand over our card and the account is kept open until we write in the tip and the wait person enters that amount after we sign the sheet and leave. It is silly when I hear that the United States is way ahead of other countries: not in credit cards and not in health insurance.