I'm also a self-taught programmer and I'm from Poland. I think it might be harder to get your first job without a degree in europe but it's definitely possible.

I'm also a self-taught programmer and I'm from Poland. I think it might be harder to get your first job without a degree in europe but it's definitely possible. There is one more difference that I think is relevant to this – in general university is free in europe so it's "easier" to expect that people will have a degree. But it's not a dealbraker.