OK - perhaps it is time to re-focus the thread. Really useful contributions all round - thanks to one and all. It is always useful to revise a definition, or remind oneself of stuff one may not use every day. Not to mention benefitting from other people wisdom and experiences.
However, the thread is about ATSOCAS and their impending demise. There are 2 broad categories of airport who will be impacted by these changes as they currently provide ATC services in class G: those with radar and those without (procedural.) If we further confine our discussions to airports that have some or significant CAT flights, we are all agreed that the number 1 priority must be protection of these flights. In the first category we have for example, Exeter, Durham, Norwich, Newquay etc. In the second, Scilly, HIAL etc and others that may have radar but downgrade to APP during shoulder hours when a dedicated radar ATCO is unavailable. If you were responsible for the future airspace classification of these two types of airport, or were asked to comment as to how these businesses could respond to the possible threats that EASA changes pose to their operations, what would you be advising? Given that the CAA does not readily grant class D and this seems to be based on parameters such as passenger numbers (?) some if not all of these airports are not going to get D. (I believe - and I haven't checked due time - that the recent ACP for Exeter's class D was rejected...?) (Perhaps I have therefore answered my own question; the only solution left to them is class E!!!)
What are people's views on airspace classification changes and what service do you envisage being provided?