99% of the people screaming here that it's incomprehensible either very clearly haven't read the source material or just don't understand how the law works in the EU (I guess they are from somewhere else and didn't bother to look anything up before forming an opinion).
Regarding your point about consensus, that's fair - however this has not been my experience. Most parties that you would ask for advice on the matter have a pretty good handle on what the different terms mean.
Your second point is mostly evidence (to my mind) of large corporations trying to get away with as much malicious compliance as they can possibly manage. You really do have to put a lot of effort in that, as you cannot assume the agency checking you will see good faith (which is, as far as I understand it, one of the requirements for not being slapped with fines very quickly).
Regarding your point about consensus, that's fair - however this has not been my experience. Most parties that you would ask for advice on the matter have a pretty good handle on what the different terms mean.
Your second point is mostly evidence (to my mind) of large corporations trying to get away with as much malicious compliance as they can possibly manage. You really do have to put a lot of effort in that, as you cannot assume the agency checking you will see good faith (which is, as far as I understand it, one of the requirements for not being slapped with fines very quickly).