In many European nations, photographers don't have as good of rights as those in the US do. I'm told that in Paris one has to have a permit to use a tripod.
I've taken photos in Paris with a tripod in several locations over 10+ years, never had a problem. There might be local rules which I'm not aware of, but I have a feeling tripods are not permitted on busy sidewalks or parks where they can cause nuisance.
My flippant "move to mainland Europe" -comment was because the complaints about photographers getting harassed are invariably from UK and US. It could be that certain nations' photography forums complain about the same thing, but I haven't run into any issues in the countries I frequent. That's not an exhaustive list of countries, but making any meaningful generalizations about Europe is an exercise in futility.
If some of you are worried about getting in trouble for taking photos, find out the
local rules, regulations and laws beforehand, print them out, and courteously and patiently explain it to the security guy or police officer if they confront you. These people are not walking law books, and having someone with a list of what's allowed and what's not will actually make their work easier. Just don't be a dick about knowing more than they do