The Germans follow the rules too strictly and in South America we ignore the rules too lightly.

I wonder if there's a country somewhere with the right balance.

France, while not perfect, is still balancing it +/- correctly.

I think for all of our problems, the US does get this right - we know when to be formal and when to be informal, and its something that is well culturally ingrained - that is the spirit and intent of the rules should be considered as strongly as the actual words.

No idea if there still is, but there definitely used to be. These things change over time, as culture does. Half a decade ago, pretty much everywhere in Europe followed rules less strictly. The balance was almost surely better.