Don't know why you're being downvoted; everything you've stated is true. I would just add that one should probably account for taxes. When taxes are involved: buybacks >> dividends.
If you hold your stocks in a tax exempt account then you don’t really care about this though.
Pension funds, ISAs in the UK, etc etc; most countries have something similar. The vast majority of individual savers will not exceed the limits placed on these accounts.
In Canada, it’s difficult/expensive to buy euro stocks or euro funds directly, so you end up buying a Canadian-domiciled or US-domiciled euro fund.
I wouldn’t be surprised if US retirement savers have the same issue.
While dividends from the etf are tax-free in a retirement savings, the dividends from the euro company are first paid to the etf, and the euro company still does tax withholding. From their point of view, they’re not paying out to a retirement fund.
Depends on the country. Some countries incentivize long-term ownership by taxing dividends at a lower rate than other capital gains. And in some countries, mutual funds don't pay taxes for (domestic) dividends.
Pension funds, ISAs in the UK, etc etc; most countries have something similar. The vast majority of individual savers will not exceed the limits placed on these accounts.