That was the joke.

It's unfortunately, not uncommon for stories to describe something Europeans do (when they really mean Britons), that I seldom can relate to, until I realise they are only using the UK as a sample. Although, I should point out, that sometimes it's other countries used as basis for what Europeans do (say France or Germany), when it might be exclusive to either two countries (or a subset of European countries, say Southern European).

I also notice this in release dates for video games,[0] often a UK release date is published, when they really mean a European release date. (Although, to be fair to Canada, I often see US release dates, when they mean North American.)

[0] The same pattern isn't necessarily true for music, film and book releases, because they don't have so wide releases as video games usually have.

That was irony, which is used often by Europeans.

Yes, that was a joke. We make fun of UK for driving on the wrong side too sometimes.