The new regime attempts to standardise things so what you get is uniform, regardless of where you are.
ICAO requires a Flight Information Service; fair enough. But some UK units were not the only ones to provide something extra. If you fly in France or Spain, they have you on radar the whole time (and, unlike the UK, they are not afraid to let you know) and they will pass conflicting traffic (which in say France is pretty unlikely, due to the low traffic density at any "touring" altitude).
I cannot recall a time when I was under an FIS in the UK and got traffic info, but I gather it has happened.
IMHO, the whole thing is an ae*e covering exercise. Some anally retentive person somewhere decided there was a possible duty of care and since nobody wants to spend money on services to GA, the only practical way to solve this is to wash their hands of it formally. Why the UK doesn't adopt the unified system they have in e.g. France I don't know.