Does anyone know how such clauses apply in the EU?

No. They will ofer a "garden leave". This means, you get paid and stay employed as much as the grace period is over. I think the only restriction is not entering the company's premises.

For executives, is not uncommon that they stay one year in the "garden leave", having all the perks too.

When I left Autonomy, I had such a "garden leave" for 3 months. I stayed at home and received normal salary. Was nice, but boring.

If you are interested in Ireland there are some pretty useful government agencies that encourage business locating here.

http://www.idaireland.com/help/

What upcoming shows have you in the US?

I enjoyed this rebuttal.

http://ulobw.tumblr.com/

As others have said. The fallacies needed to be addressed. The author of this response did so quite succinctly. Well done to him.

Thanks, an erudite contrarian view like this is always stimulating.

I had heard about but did not know very much about Mittelstand.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mittelstand

We have lessons to learn from European paradigms as you point out. However I think you are a little harsh on founders, the pursuit of fame may be an issue for a small minority but is hardly a universal issue.

If we leave aside the name.

Do people see potential for this?

I saw a short presentation on it at the weekend at PyCon Ireland, It was above my pay grade but it was intrigueing.

I am a developer in the the company but work a lot with our sales guy. So while the area is interesting to me I am incredibly ignorant of it.

Your suggestion crystallizes an approach I was considering.

My lurking on HN is part of my education in such matters. Thanks Caw for taking the time to answer my first question.