What is gathering pace, is the need for current operators (pilots), especially freelance, to acclimatise to the fact that part of them now has to become a lawyer, so they can competently negotiate the minefield that is litigation.
There is certainly room for a European asociation to serve freelance drivers to which one might contribute a moderate annual fee in return for being professionally represented in the event of litigation (especially relevant with certain clients).
Where has all the fun gone these days.
TC, you are not alone, several feel this way. The 'fun' in flying (or perhaps one could call it the sense of adventure or freedom) has gone the way of many things in Europe .. into the quagmire which is centralisation, bureaucracy and external control.
As you know, successive generations find it easier to accept that which we may question as they will have been raised with these 'restrictions' largely in place. For them to aspire to the role of a well-coordinated IT specialist versed in administration, law and accounting while conducting perpetual risk assessments, reviewing new policies
and flying .. will be quite normal I am sure.
It is, as always, hardest for those who recall a time when things were, how can one describe it, less complicated!