Based on my experience:
FAA CPL was (mostly) about handling. EASA CPL was (mostly) about navigating.
FAA IR was (mostly) about learning how to operate a crabby old Cessna with a rudimentary nav fit with the expectation that you would then head off and fly said Cessna on your own for real in IMC. FAA ME was then a relatively straightforward add-on. EASA IR was (mostly) geared towards preparing you for the RHS of a commercial aircraft with little expectation that you would ever end up flying IFR in a light aircraft.
The lack of an oral component to the skills tests for the EASA licence certainly changes the dynamic of the process.