>>716514037Not intentionally. Disney is still "The Mouse" even in Europe, and they've always pursued this image globally. Donald Duck's fame and publicity over here isn't something they particularly pushed, it just came about because duck comics provided better stories and characterization than mouse comics (which do also exist in great numbers, and are distributed in the same magazines as duck comics) at a critical time in history.
In the 50s and early 60s many european countries were still rebuilding and industrializing after the devastation of WW2, and there were austerity measures in place in many of them. Comics were an accessible and affordable source of entertainment for a lot of people, and duck comics arrived right on time to benefit from this boom. European boomers who grew up reading american duck comics in post-war Europe would then go on to form the foundation of italian, french, nordic etc. duck canon and expand the franchise further in their own direction.
Micke was always viewed as a little too sterile (which then makes him perfect for corporate), and never got his own Barks, Rosa, Scarpa etc. treatment, so Europe prefers to mostly ignore him.