Avman,
That's right. There seems to be a slight problem on that point.
Maybe that's the reason why I spend hours here, trying to explain and understand.
I hope all this will help a bit.
Had 1 TCAS RA event in the last 2 years when someone was climbing like a rocket below me, who knows maybe he was given some frenchy clearance to reach a level "in 3 minutes maximum"
And maybe he was climbing higher than his RFL, and maybe you (or him) had asked for a direct, got it, and you (or him) shouldn't have been there at that time regarding the flow control. So, maybe, because of you (or him), there was a traffic overflow...In the end, whose fault is it ?
Don't answer : that's the controler's responsability. Which ATCo ? The one who screwed the clearance or the one who gave the direct ?
Just would like you to think about it before grumbeling when a direct or a level is refused nowaday's in France. And I swear I hope this situation will stop soon.