Neuro, your image/situation is a perfect demonstration of the matter in question.
If you photograph a bridge in say Cincinnati spanning the Ohio river, the same laws will apply on the Ohio and on the Kentucky side of that bridge. Unfortunately this is currently not the case between EU member states. So there clearly is a need for harmonization of the current legal situation throughout the entire EU.
If the EU parliament follows the intent of Julia Reda's initial proposal to harmonize the matter along the more liberal "german model" of freedom of panorama ("FoP"), it would be ideal from any photographers point of view - both amateurs and professionals. FoP has worked extremely well over the last 90 years in all countries where it exists. And to my knowledge, (good) architects and artists are starving in higher numbers in Germany, Austria or the UK than in the most photography-restricting EU countries like France and Italy.
With a sensible and liberal European FoP law/directive in place, photographers anywhere in the EU would have peace of mind, that as long as they capture images of anything (other than individual persons) on and from public ground and in plain view of the public, they could publish and use these images as they see fit in commercial, non-commercial and "possibly commercial" situations (like those facebook, flickr etc. terms of service). Without having to stop and ask for all sorts of permissions before creating any image, without 100 page small print contracts, and without greedy asshole IR lawyers going after them with the most absurd "cease and desist orders under fine" ("strafbewehrte Abmahnungen") for all sorts of real or imagined "commercial uses" and "copyright infringements" of some long-deceased architects's heirs trust fund.
Unfortunately, some dirtbag copyright mafia-influenced MEPs have tried to turn Ms. Read's excellent proposal and initiative to grant freedom of panorama to photographers in all EU countries on its head. In effect they want to basically abolsih FoP in all of the EU, including countries where it has existed and successfully regulated matters for many decades. Not even the Nazis touched general FoP rights in Germany and Austria.
So yes, this matter is a big thing. It is not exaggerated. It is important to any photographer taking images outside of their own house, apartment or studio. It is even important to US and other Non-EU tourists taking images of and in European cities on public grounds (eg. images of multi-national bridges taken from the sidewalk of a street NEXt TO some Chinese restaurant
).
As photographers we should all be united in asking EU lawmakers (EU parliament does pass laws): "
Madams/Sires Ladies & Gentlemen, grant freedom of panorama - everywhere!". It is essential for photographers and it also serves the public interest. The more images of our cities, buildings, monuments the better - the more will be available as documentation of the current state of our civilization to future generations and historians. Furthermore, there are more than enough legal safeguards provided under many other laws & regulations in all EU countries to very effectively prevent and/or limit "excessive" (commercial) use and any copyright infringements by means of images captured under FoP.
