Neither AOPA nor the CAA make the rules and neither have the remit to change them. The regulation does state that all requirements for licence issue shall have been met before the Examiner can conduct the Skill Test and it is the Examiner's responsibility to check. EASA seem to regard these inflexible rules and irrational requirements as some sort of Standardisation. It must be safe if we follow the rules, even if we don't know why!