If a U.S.-based private corporation wants to open a sales office and service operations in the EU, a few questions:

* FORMATION. Is it necessary to form a legal entity such as a subsidiary in a specific country within the EU? Or is it possible to establish the company's EU service operations offshore and legally provide those services in the EU? Or can the company register in some other manner as a U.S. company to do business in the EU? The company doesn't want to avoid paying taxes, but it does want to minimize the bureaucratic headaches of incorporating or otherwise establishing itself in Europe.

* DOING BUSINESS ACROSS EUROPE. If the company wants to do business anywhere in the EU, is it necessary to formally establish a legal entity in *each* EU country in which it wants to provide services? Or can the company establish in, say, the U.K. but still do business in, say, The Netherlands?

* TAXES. Where is the best place to locate with regard to corporate taxes? a I've heard that there are certain EU countries (e.g., Ireland) that have more favorable corporate taxes. However, I also just read a July 2007 piece that suggests the EC plans to introduce legislation in 2008 to level the corporate tax playing field and require companies to pay corporate taxes according to where they carry out their business: http://www.rte.ie/business/2007/0718/taxruling.html.

* SALES. If the company did have to establish as a legal entity in the EU, and chose to do so in Ireland, is it possible for that entity to open a sales office in another EU country without having to establish as another legal entity there? Could sales employees of the company's legal entity in Ireland work and live in The Netherlands, for instance?

* EMPLOYEES. I presume, given the direction the EC is heading, that sooner or later the company would be required to pay payroll and other taxes for its employees in the country where they work no matter in which EU country the company is based. Does that sound like a reasonable assumption?

* REQUIRED STARTUP FUNDS. I've heard that, in order to establish in The Netherlands as a BV (the rough equivalent to a LLC in the U.S.), a company needs among other things to have EUR 18K in startup funds in a Dutch bank account. How much would the company need to have in startup funds in Ireland or the U.K.? And how does a company open a Dutch bank account before it formally establishes itself as a BV?

A lot of questions, I know. Would welcome any feedback or resources online.