E3 is ~34Mbps, so it probably wasn't. It's true that the E1/E2/E3 hierarchy is used outside the US, but links to the US can be either depending on carrier preference.

The T1/T2/T3 and E1/E2/E3 hierarchies join at the STM-1 level: An STM-1 can be subdivided as 4 x E3s or 3 x T3s.

This means that on a EU<->US SDH link, an STM-1 can be demuxed into either E3s or T3s, so you can have both standards on the same fiber.