There has been a subtle amendment to FCL.720.A. which came into effect at the end of 2019. The wording of the reg was changed to say "an applicant for a type rating must have or have held a MEIR".
This suggests a lapsed MEIR is now acceptable. That said, many airline ops manuals will still prescribe a current MEIR to begin a TR and if it's your first TR, I have a feeling most will insist on you still being current before starting training