Advice for US entrepreneurs who move to Europe

Working overtime is perfectly legal in Denmark for instance, if the employees prefer it (forcing them can be illegal). The reason is that in Denmark (and other Nordic countries), labour regulations are not enforced by law, but by negotiations between the employees (unions) and employers.

Denmark doesn't even have a minimum wage law, for instance!

Also here; it is not incredibly difficult to fire people. But as an employer, you need a good reason, or the courts will side with the employee and it'll cost you dearly. The advantage of this system is that it makes employers more keen on hiring people, because in the trial period (usually first 3 months), firing people is more easy than usual.

European countries are very different, and Americans seem to forget that. He does mention that they are, but it seems that even to him he doesn't realise the actual difference.

The basic difference is that in a Civil Law system 'the law is the law'; court rules cannot change law practice. In addition, you cannot use previous court decisions to argue in a court of law. You can use them as guidelines, but nothing more.

This means that it is quite easy for most people to understand how the law works; just look at the law text and the text's comments (which are also important when interpreting the law, i.e. understanding what the intent with the law is).