> 8: Have wildly different regulatory, legal and tax schemes within each fragmented mini-market such that EU-wide expansion is difficult
Is it worse than in the United States? Each state has those, too.
Is it worse than in the United States? Each state has those, too.
- hiring a human representative in each state and paper-based filings and correspondance in different languages for the VAT register
- Joining a dual-state system for financing the recycling of the packaging
- Registering with a package register who has the right to refuse your product over marginal differences
- Changing the packaging language for each state
- Having your supply chain examined by officials of each state, in different language (better hire someone), for things they don't like
- Hiring a local representative in each state to manage interactions with regulatory bodies related to EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility)
- Treating your IT systems in each state differently based on nuanced data rules and compliance
Yes, it's worse than the US. California is the most regulation-happy US state and they're a cake-walk compared to interfacing with EU beaurocratic idiocy (in many different languages!).
I spend 90% of my tax/regulation effort on handling EU VAT, which is <10% of my revenue.
It really makes the IRS seem like Google in comparison to EU revenue services.
1) How many official languages are you mandated to speak and write in order to be allowed to legally do business in each US state?
2) How much difference is there in the regulation between US states versus between EU countries?
Spoiler: There can be a bigger difference between doing business between neighboring EU countries than between California and New York.
Federal law and regulations ALWAYS supercede state laws. If the federal rule says "X must be allowed", states can't make X illegal.