EU3 is a strategy game, and strategy games are about decision making, not statistical analysis. Anything that allows the player to make more informed decisions is a very positive change. The game doesn't automate it. They don't automatically move your armies out of high attrition provinces, it just tells you that you're bleeding manpower. That's a very easy thing to miss in a game of such big scale, and a very useful bit of information.
All these bits of information the game gives you add to the decision making process and improve the stategical experience overall, not detract from it like some of you suggest. When players are unimformed, they're afraid to make risky moves, and their strategy becomes less advanced and the game ends up less fun. After a couple patches, Civilization 4 gave you the exact odds to win every single battle. This did not remove any strategy or make the game less fun, but instead added to it, and allowed you to make more informed decisions about where to attack and what to attack with. This can't be added to EU3 due to how the combat works, and I'm not asking it to be added, but it's a perfect example of how presenting information to the player is a very good thing.
Basically, strategy games do nothing but benefit from being as transparent as possible, and I applaud Paradox for going this route. These new interface improvements help greatly in keeping the player well informed of what's going on in a very big world, and doesn't detract from the gameplay experience at all.
