One good news is that US remote companies have been expanding to Europe, which will drive up salaries there over time to attract top talents. Gergely Orosz's Trimodal Nature of Tech Compensation in the US, UK and India has info on top paying companies in UK: https://newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/trimodal
Yeah, but the expansion is usually only in a handful of places like the Dublin, Amsterdam, Warsaw and that's about it. There really isn't a remote for Europe.
I am not too familiar with Europe, but a remote job usually ties to a specific country, likely due to tax or some regulations. Another reason is that different country in the same continent has different cost of living and salary band, etc.
For some of these reasons, it might explain why while there is remote job in US or Canada or Mexico, there is no remote job for North America, the continent for these 3 countries. This might help explain why there isn't a remote job for Europe as it is a continent.
Haven't said this, it seems to be a great advantage for companies who can overcome the challenge and offer remote for Europe if it is an appealing offer.
It can be difficult to understand the various countries’ laws and their practical application for employers, requiring country-by-country study.
The same policies that provide strong protections for employees against being terminated can serve as a barrier against those same employees being hired in the first place. Different countries have chosen different points in that regard. Netherlands is stronger than the US for employee protections, but not as strong as Germany. France offers even more protections for employees.
Employers can’t treat EU as a single country, because, well, it’s not. They have to understand the laws and usually incorporate in each country. (None of this is complaining that it ought to be some other way, but rather just observing why you don’t see typical non-giant companies offering “anywhere in EU remote” roles [and agreeing with your analogy to North America].)