What we are seeing here may be another shot in the tri-partite turf war between CAA/JAA/EASA.
If/when EASA gets up & running then the role of our CAA will be reduced to that of a local administrative centre and some departments, particularly the GA Dept, will probably disappear.
We can expect to see many more safety driven initiatives from the GA Dept as they demonstrate their indispensability.
And who amongst us is wise enough or brave enough to argue against safety?