Lets be honest the biggest block to the EASA IR is time followed by cost.
Yes, but the devil is in the detail.
If e.g. you have to go to an FTO, that will discourage most pilots because most pilots don't have an FTO in an easy driving distance. This seemingly trivial requirement means hotel residence for both the ground school (if any) and for the flying element. This may be OK for an unemployed and nearly skint 21 year old ATPL candidate but anybody who thinks this is not a huge hassle for somebody in a later part of their life is not living in the real world.
The reason the FAA route has been so popular with owner pilots is not because it is easier, or because maintenance is cheaper (it isn't). I don't think the IR is easier, and nowadays, with the TSA+Visa hassles thrown in, and the virtual necessity of having to go to the USA for the checkride, it carries a lot of completely pointless hassle. As well as, due to the US portion, the prob99 inability of doing the checkride in your own (or identical) plane which is a huge drawback because you end up doing a lot of training which is partly wasted because it isn't on the type.
What the FAA route has always offered, and continues to offer, is flexibility. Most plane owners are time-poor cash-rich business/professional types who can swallow a lot of work but only in small flexible chunks. For example I know one pilot (now flying a new £3M turboprop) who flew around Europe, on business, with his FAA instructor in the RHS. Really handy for him. This was in the days of fairly easy to arrange UK FAA checkrides and he probably paid a few k for that, too.
I don't think anybody in EASA fully understands these factors. Yes the ground school of 9 or 11 or 14 exams is a lot of swatting which is hard for anybody who is probably really sharp but probably last studied at univ etc 30 years previously. If I had to do the JAA IR I would pay almost any money (say £5k) to avoid the exams, and others I know have found routes around them (some of which still exist but are a lot of roundabout hassle). But there is other stuff which needs to be dealt with also. Not understanding this goes hand in hand with not understanding why the IMCR has been so popular; it is popular for the same accessibility reasons the FAA IR benefits from.