But I'm always seeing the phrase "JAA Standard training'. Is this a dig at the FAA 'sub-standard training'? Or just a new British term?
Don't worry, its just a European term - before we had JAA it was CAA, and that was a British only term.
Some folks who don't know better MIGHT regard FAA as "substandard" for European flying because you don't experience overhead joins, flight information services, etc, etc. But of course there are requirements in the US that do not arise in Europe too. JAA as compared to FAA is a slighty different sylabus, slightly different requirements (e.g. turns around a point not required for JAA, no actual spins required for JAA, etc).
Andy