I just had a quick look through these proposals to see what EASA said with regards the much-longed for European IMC rating, if anything. They don't, of course, say anything concrete.
The proposals focus on the concept that the amount of theoretical knowledge and pilot proficiency would depend on the complexity of the aircraft and the nature of the flight operations (ie commercial or non-commercial). The idea being that there could be one stringent set of requirements for the commercial ops and a less stringent set for private ops in light aircraft, and even the requirements for private ops being set by organisations other than EASA, though not, it seems, national authorities.
On one level, I find that quite encouraging. If implemented in a benign manner, the proposals could quite easily accomodate a full-on IR for commercial ops plus the IMC for private ops. I could see that being used to justify continuing to allow IMC-style flying in the UK which would otherwise seem to be outlawed since CAA will no longer have the power to set FCL rules.
On the other hand, they also mention using the existing JAR FCL rules for "more complex" operations; if IFR, even private IFR, is classified as "more complex" we may all need a full IR even for IFR in the UK.
What do people think?