There's also the possibility that Clancy was using that statement to illustrate some aspect of the CIA agent's personality/character. That is to say, perhaps the agent was written as being biased against European firearms and just made the sort of statement that you hear often enough about car marques.
Like everyone here as mentioned, the Europeans do make some pistols that range from fine to outstanding but as Panther Al specifically stated, it just took the Europeans some time to realize that pistols are more than just status symbols or authority symbols.
Other current/former European pistol makers include: -
Astra
Benelli
CZUB (AKA CZ) - The CZ75 in particular
Korriphila
Korth
MAB
Mauser - Who hasn't seen the C96 AKA Broomhandle Mauser for example?
Sphinx
Steyr
Star
Tanfoglio
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