"Having a PhD shows one is capable to solve a difficult problem during several years"
That used to be the case. There are far too many PhD-factories out there, also in Europe. A Dutch university gets a €93000 bonus for each succesful dissertation. The number of promotions has doubled over the 1990-2010 period, and the quality is down. Not all PhDs are created equal, and title inflation is rampant.
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Again, this is a generalization. What is true in the Netherlands is not necessary true everywhere, and conversely, I know very good Dutch PhD students and professors. They still exist, and the bad one are usually not going through the system.