It wont help your case, but now living in France, I have seen many French people travel all around the EU on aircraft (not just Schengen) without passports, but with just photo ID.
On a completely different subject - I thought the whole point of the Photo ID driving licence (note name - PHOTO ID DRIVING LICENCE) was so we could use it as ID?....
I think there should be one rule for all - ie, everyone needs a passport to travel, or, photo ID is acceptable for all. Seems to me that again the british citizen gets the short end of the stick regarding EU rules, they should be the same - EVERYWHERE - for ALL EU citizens.