Let me just throw this out there..

This is what a european resident/citizen must go through to get their JAA Licenses currently... (At least in Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal and Greece, all from which I have first hand knowledge...)

1) Get your certificates/ratings : 2 - 3.5 yrs. and $80 - $100.000 aprox.
2) Pay your A320 Typerating out of your pocket: $50.000, good for 6 months before it expires.

Pay for airline experience through intermediate companies based in Luxemburg or Spain, at aprox $110.000, where you are paying to work in a A320 for airlines in Romania, Malta and Bulgaria. This package includes 500hrs in the A320. It will probably take you 8 months to get those 500 hrs on type. You have to pay ur own apartment in this country as well as meals and all living expenses associated with it during the 8 months.

After that you can come back to ur country and stand in line for an instructor job at the local airport. As of 2007, there where 3500 pilots unemployed in Spain standing in line for an isnturctor job in a C172.

Dont you guys think for a second that France and England have the "standard atmosphere" in Europe. They dont set the tone for the continent.

I just wonder what these kids, that have spent a quarter of a million dollars in flight training, including as well doing some despicable things like paying to work, all of a sudden seeing a US Citizen coming over to EU and taking a regional job flying an A320 for Clickair for 1500 euros a month... I guess they just walked right into it by swallowing this "paying to work" thing...

Man Id love to be able to read their languages just to see what their forums are reading...