I think some would be suprised at how many European pilots fly on 61.75 licenses. There seem to be vast numbers in Germany in particular, which resulted in some "interesting situations" when certain facilities specially arranged for updating them turned out to be harder to pin down than was expected. It however remains a topic where some commentators were threatened with legal action, etc.
I agree that with hindsight the 61.75 route was not a great idea, which is why I never did it, always referring to it as a house of cards because the power-mad European aviation regulators cannot resist playing around with their end of the arrangement, but it is a pity that it has become particularly difficult in recent years, after so many pilots have started to rely on it.
The great thing about a standalone FAA PPL/IR, or the CPL/IR which I have, is that nobody (but the FAA) can take it away from you. EASA obviously cannot touch it. And it remains good for life, for use on any US reg aircraft, or any other reg aircraft whose state of registry validates US papers (which is most countries in the world, except the protectionist EU which does it in a limited way).
Is Adam House still doing 61.75 processing? Also, an email went around a few months ago that the highly regarded Janeen Kochan was back in Europe doing FAA checkrides and 61.75 also.