All these extra Grands add up, plus with over inflated sim prices (£200 per hour is not uncommon - the SAME sim in the USA would cost you $100 per hour).
Is it Greed in EU land? That flying should be limited to the very few privileged people? That is what it seems like sometime.....
The core problem is a restrictive GA regulatory environment which is generally getting worse under EASA, but I still believe that is more to do with CAA interpretation of rules than direct EASA issues. The second problem is that most of the kit is USA made and pricing tends to be done on the basis of just changing the sign in front from $ to £ an issue that has been a problem in IT and comms for aeons.