Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Nobody in New York ask him to pay 20,000 usd to the city for the privilege of opening business. Nobody ask for that in Europe either, unless you're interested in heavily regulated industries like energy or banking (and they ask for more than $20,000). But we're talking about small businesses, right? I don't know if fashion industry is heavily regulated in Paris, but a 15,000-euro fee to the government sounds like a…
Incorporating e.g Delaware in US is below $1k. In Germany starting a GmbH in Germany requires a $25k Euro capital http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stammkapital There is still a lot more regulation in Europe when it comes to operating a business. It is also one of the reasons why I see so many European start-ups here in San Francisco trying to establish early on.
Since 2008 you can start a derivative called Unternehmergesellschaft which waives the minimum capital. You need to keep 25% of yearly earnings, but it can be rebranded later as GmbH if you raise 25,000 euro capital in said savings. It says right there in the article you've linked:
> Um die deutsche GmbH im internationalen Wettbewerb zu stärken und Neugründungen von Unternehmen zu erleichtern,ist seit dem 1. November 2008 die Gründung von Unternehmergesellschaften (UG) möglich, deren Mindeststammkapital nur mehr 1 € betragen muss. Die UG muss – solange das Stammkapital unter 25.000 € liegt – 25 % des Jahresüberschusses (Gewinn) in eine Rücklage einstellen.
Here's an alternative in English for others who might be interested but might not understand German: http://www.germanlawjournal.com/pdfs/Vol09No09/PDF_Vol_09_No...
And while it might technically cost less than a thousand dollars to incorporate in Delaware, in practice I'd need much more than that - especially if we consider costs of obtaining visa and housing, traveling and living expenses. It's difficult to get money for all of that, especially if you start from nothing. On the other hand I can travel to another country within the EU with favorable regulations (low taxes, low cost of starting a business) without the need for a visa.