"those with a licence are normally well versed in flight planning, but are often studious types who lack the ability to think and react quickly in a given situation; in fact the very idea of some of these guys intervening in a live operation brings me out in a cold sweat!"
I would suggest that the staff members you mention have been selected by your organisation because they have the qualifications to prove they are excellent flight planners, not necessarily good Ops Controllers. As someone who has employed staff with and without FAA licences or ATPLs I can say that generally the licensed staff have a much stronger technical understanding than their unlicensed colleagues.
Even in the States not all senior dispatchers will become operations controllers. I believe of the 80 or so dispatchers’ SouthWest employs only approx 10 are qualified to sit in the operations controllers’ seat. There are only 2 live desks and a pre-ops post per shift. At JetBlue the ratio is 4 to 1, dispatchers to ops controllers. At both airlines it is not necessary to have been a dispatcher to sit in the Ops chair, but it is a preference.
Also have you thought that the current European bias towards self-funding would lead those of a more studious nature taking the exams? These are the people who would seek the qualification because they want it as a challenge, perhaps about 50% of current European dispatchers, the other 50% are likely to be those who obtained the licence with the intention of working abroad or for carriers who required the licence as proof of technical ability.
I am not saying we should adopt the FAA licence as the European standard, just that we adopt a standard period instead of the current fudged position or total lack of.
I do disagree that the FAA licence in Europe is irrelevant; FAA dispatchers are qualified to intervene in a live operation, which is the point of joint responsibility and all in stands for, please read Kellmarks comments and those of another FAA dispatcher who spoke at length regarding the TUI Airbus crash in Rumours and News some time ago. Both can explain the advantages of shared responsibility. In Europe yes we have to rely on the Duty Pilot, but even he cannot over rule the commander of a European aircraft, sole responsibility in Europe rests with the pilot commanding. In the US an FAA dispatcher is not qualified to operate the aircraft, but is type rated, and is qualified to make marginal decisions and to assist with the decision making process.
All that said I am glad to see that you agree regarding a tailor made European ops officer qualification being required. With regards to the syllabus have you read ICAO 7192 D-3 and do you feel this is a good place to start? What do you feel we should add? What should be taken out?