This is a bug-bear of mine too. Into LHR all the regulars know the routine 220/180/160 and stick to it or it messes things up. The problem is that in the rest of Europe there is a tendency to dabble with speed control and then leave you hanging. e.g. reduce to 210kts and then nothing more is said about speed until I say 'do you still require 210?' and then another random speed figure is pulled out of the air. If they didn't still want 210 then I would like them to say so. I don't believe my asking about speed just happened to coincide with their desire to reduce my speed. Also there is no point in reducing me to 180 and then 10 seconds later want me to reduce to 150 and then 10 seconds after that say 'final approach speed'. Obviously I don't immediately achieve the requested speed so in the example just given they should have said 'reduce to final approach' when I was at 210 as I at no time actually achieved any of their random requested speeds other than in passing. [Obviously none of the above is directed at LHR controllers who are exemplry
]. Oh and I have given up telling German controllers that 170 to the marker [1200' to 1300'] is not compatable with our stable approach criteria. I had a few years of mentioning it and now do the same as every one else and just 'do my best'. I get fed up with unecessary speed control. If they want less than 180 or more than 180 say so. Please don't confine me to 180 if not necessary [or 150 or 160 or whatever].
I say again that at LHR speed control by ATC is down to a fine art and there is no comparison to some other smaller airports round the world. What on earth is going on at CDG I can only guess. There seems no coordination between controllers. My speed always seems a surprise to the next controller and not what they want. All the go-arounds in 20 years I have flown at CDG have been due to insufficient separation on final.