Sounds like your mate in the pub is pretty much correct..(including the comment about exhaustion)
BA Shorthaul for some reason already works to EASA limits.
As I recall it that was something to do with BALPA trying to persuade the beancounters at BA to bring the BMI work in house at the time of the merger ( can we call it that?), rather than BA setting up a parallel short haul operation ex LHR with BMI assets ...the fact that only Short haul, only, went almost fully EASA is not unsurprisingly still the source of some..err...angst...