Readit NewsDeleted Comment
Otherwise, why would they engage in a publicity battle to sway public sentiment precisely now, if their legal case wasn't weak?
It's not like EU countries offer a potential founders anything of substance. You can just as well run your company from abroad. Most of your customers are going to be outside of EU (most likely), you will be buying services from outside of EU, hire/work with people from various countries. There is just no reason to be in Germany, France, Spain, Italy when you don't get anything but bureaucracy burden and high taxes.
I paid my (admittedly quite low by EU standards) taxes honestly but right now savings on capital gain tax alone are enough for me to buy a beach house in a country with a better weather and still save some. My country wants to charge >1% of my wealth every year just to be there not even going into business taxes. The incentives are right there to leave. If I ever start another business it will be in my new tax friendly country. A lot of people are like me and will realize what terrible deal they are getting. Out of those who stay a smaller number is going to be successful because of all the tax/bureaucracy burden. Is the endgame to just give up on IT? Introduce tariffs on everything? Forbid foreign corporations to sell in EU?
I just don't see how EU isn't going to be left in the dust in technology sector with their current policies.