Richpea, we work in the second most regulated occupation in the world, the first, Nuclear.
It is up to the regulator to decide what they require from prospective license holders. The USA you have to sit the exam. Same with CASA in Australia.
Of course this poses a problem for your employer, Ryanair, who have a majority of Third Country Registed aircraft based in the UK, this will change at some point, meaning UK license holders will be in demand.
There is no level playing field, there never was, if you want to work for a French/German/Spanish etc airline you have to be fluent in the local language.
It's the way of the world