Trojancat.
Your question has caused me to also re-read this entire thread again from onset (which does take a while!) There really isn't anything tangible I would change to what has already been said. I am afraid some of your questions are beyond my own experience portfolio so I would seek advice from those more familiar with the specific airlines and countries that you are referring to.
As you say much of the information is UK-centric simply because many of the contributors operate within this arena. Generally speaking not much has changed in the last two years, and from my perspective I would say it has worsened considerably but perhaps less so from the cadet standpoint. The ongoing recession continues to squeeze the marketplace, and opportunities are still few and far between.
Those (UK) airlines with cadet programmes, continue to concentrate recruitment from the main three FTO's in this marketplace. Events over the last few weeks have (as a consequence) caused some airlines (and I am sure others will follow) to tighten up on their psychometric and background checks for new recruits. For cadets this is an easy and quick process as it largely devolves to the FTO's.
1) "Tagged programmes" tend to be those cadet programmes where the candidate is pre-selected by the placement airline. There are other cadet programmes ("wings etc.") where the candidate isn't "tagged" as such to any particular operator, but it is intended that on successful completion (and subject to vacancies at that time) they would be placed with one of that FTO's partner airlines. These programmes tend to be ab-initio and depending on the specific requirements of any given programme are likely to have a limit on a candidates pre-existing experience. Some credit may well be given with regards to any pre-existing experience, however they are not aimed at pilots with significant amounts of post PPL experience and certainly not existing CPL holders. These cadet programmes are almost always full time integrated courses of training with a partner FTO.
2) The distinction here is that airlines are not generally looking for low hour CPL/IR or fATPL holders outside of their recognised cadet schemes. The vacancies that arise in this (heavily squeezed) section of the market tend to be for pilots with significant levels of airline experience. For most airlines recruiting outside of their cadet programmes just doesn't happen in the low hour market.
3) Bearing in mind the comments already made, it would be a case of seeing where your target employers do their recruitment from in the particular segment of the marketplace that you feel is relevant to you. Middle Eastern airlines (such as Emirates) are "Apex" consumers of pilots on a global basis, but tend to set their benchmark minima in the established segment of the marketplace. By that, I mean they tend to look for a 2500 hour minimum tariff with significant airline or turbine experience to form a part of the candidates experience profile. They have little trouble recruiting very experienced pilots in the global marketplace, and for those recruits at the lower end of the scale, they are likely to place some significance on the training background.
Looking abroad is always a good idea as it is a very difficult marketplace and opportunities are few. Where they do arise they tend to be for particularly well experienced pilots to satisfy shortfalls in that particular segment of their own domestic markets. For example, the Middle East and China. The problem at the other end of the scale is finding arenas where the candidate has the right to work, even if work can be found.
4) Again I would make the point that the cadet programmes are integrated programmes and if that is what you are looking at, then it costs whatever it costs and that has to be a decision you make based on your circumstances and the availability of those programmes that might be open to you. There are no guarantees with any of them, but placements tend to be reasonably good with most of the established ones. Bear in mind that placements are also part of the advanced training and whether or not a job dovetails from that placement will again depend on performance and the market conditions at that company at that particular point in time.
5) I would say that the situation since 2013 is in my opinion slightly worse but broadly similar. I would think very long and hard before making any commitments, and as always research, research, research!