Is it permissible for residents in Europe to allocate a sum of money for funeral arrangements with non-Muslim entities, as a form of preparation for the future and out of fear that there will be no one to take care of them, and is thinking about the future in this manner permissible?

Thinking about the future is permissible, but it should not distract a servant from contemplating the Afterlife and preparing for it. It is permissible to pay money to someone who will handle the funeral arrangements during one's lifetime. This is supported by the Companion's request for the Prophet's ﷺ cloak to be his shroud, from which it can be inferred that it is permissible to acquire what the deceased needs during their lifetime. However, the majority of scholars hold that a non-believer should not wash a Muslim (for burial), as intention is a condition for the washer, and a non-believer is not fit for it. The Shafi'is, however, deem it permissible according to their most sound opinion.