As regards competance. It does seem to be a catch 22 situation for many people. If maintenance becomes much more expensive some will give up flying and the engineers will have lost customers & income. But if LAEs take pilots under their wings as "apprentices" and allow them to become competant in some permitted tasks, then surely everyone can win.
It maybe that EASA will formally propose a syllabus for a practical pilots maintenance course, conducted at tech college and with an EU diploma award. They can hardly give pilots DIY privileges without ensuring those same pilots are capable of using them.