Bolty,
Fair point, CASA are pretty much the same though aren't they?, but the EASA/JAA system does allow an amount of freedom of movement betweeen the contracting European states. There is also a certain amount of protectionism built into any system to keep at least some of the jobs in-country.
But more to the point of this thread - Do away with a licensing system in Europe, and sure enough the non-US aligned countries will follow suit eventually. I seem to remember there was a big hurragh in Oz just about LAE's not signing for a transit on the LCC 737's coz the flight crew were doing it only a year or so back......where this is going would be no licensed staff anywhere near the aircraft!
And totally off topic, I think VACBI is universally regarded as the biggest load of sh1t going cunningly disguised as a type course. I too spent my 9 weeks in VACBI hell.