Yes; I thought I forgot Germany. It's a long time since I flew there VFR...
ATC may subsequently modify things in flight, but unless that happens you have a clearance all the way to your destination
I still think that works primarily because in the USA you are assured of being in CAS all the way.
But there must be a difference because from what you say ATC would not clear you for a route on which you didn't have obstacle clearance, whereas here in Europe it is perfectly possible to file a Eurocontrol flight plan (using hacks like a series of DCTs, etc) which passes through terrain, and the departure clearance will still "clear you to destination".
Does the ATC in the USA have a means of checking the MSA/MOCA etc for your filed route, at a glance?
There is also an interesting ambiguity there. Here in Europe, once you are "cleared to", if you subsequently suffer a comms failure, you are entitled to fly the filed route and land (at the filed ETA etc etc). But if you don't suffer a comms failure, you can't necessarily do that
