Is it possible that the PIN would have been prompted for if you agreed to the fee? As far as I know, PIN is required for all contactless ATM transactions regardless of the form factor (though it wouldn't surprise me if European ATMs actually did support CDCVM).

BTW, contactless ATM support in the US is still pretty poor (even if you're okay with only being allowed to use it at your bank or CU's ATMs). On the other hand, however, contactless acceptance at stores is good enough that maybe this is okay.