RP, believe me I am no great fan of european beaurocracy, but you said this,
The MAR system worked perfectly well until a shortage of cash forced us to "lean" things. It is the responsibility of the chiefs of staff to ensure funding is adequate for MAR. If they cannot do that, there is no alternative to having standards enforced by an outside agency. The Govt will soon cough up when it realises it can't continue to fight wars on the cheap.