RRR,
You suggest that you went into the LAM hold for 15 minutes whilst someone else got vectors for a straight in. Highly unlikely unless the other aircraft has a problem and has requested a priority approach which does happen occasionally. you may not have been aware that an aircraft had an issue as it may well have been on a different frequency to yours.
The workload increases significantly if we don't handle the traffic in pretty much the way it is presented to us from adjoining units. The sector which handles traffic into LAM from the east is adjoined by 9 other sectors/units so the chances of us doing anything that resembles preference is well nigh impossible.
You say your departure was on a DVR. IIRC there is a requirement for 3 minutes between DVR departures. So if the one ahead of you at the full length was also a DVR then it would make sense to use the intersections to get 2 away on different SIDs. I'm sure you are aware but this is known as maximising the runway capacity.
I don't actually undertsand what you are talking about when you talk about 220 and Maastricht as their airspace doesn't start until above FL245.
I hope this helps to alleviate your fears that we are anything but fair to all airspace users.