You guys are talking about two different things.

In Europe they have the frozen ATPL, which is not an official term. It is slang for someone who has done their 14 ATPL exams and have their commercial and instrument ratings.

The MPL is the same theory and 14 exams, but their license allows them to only fly a specific type for a specific company, and half of their training has been in level C or D sims (or the equivalent), and these guys can't even legally go out and fly a C172 without additional training and practical tests.

I have taught guys in Europe and believe me, their system doesn't make them a better pilot than the FAA product, and guys with 170 hours total time are getting into the right hand seat of A320s and B737s over there. One low cost carrier that I know of thought they could save money by hiring low time guys and have them pay for type ratings. After a few dings and prangs with newbie FOs, they raised their hiring standards quite a bit in subsequent hiring.

Under the MPL program, guys are getting into the right hand seat with 70-90 hours of total time in airplanes, and another 100 in sims or so.