IO we generally agree on most things but on this one we are not! Your timescales are way out.
The change to the IR is imminent. Massive changes are being made to the syllabus and the requirements as we speak.
It seems the ultimate goal is for EASA to remove non AOC operating N Reg aircraft to gain oversight of them. They intend to remove the biggest reason for private operators to be on the N Reg which is the IR. But this is an aside, the real reason for the changes is to make an IR in Europe a reality, learn from the FAA by encouraging more pilots to take up the IR and enhance overall safety.
The PPL/IR will be in line with the FAA IR in terms of access but the practical standards will still be JAA rather than FAA (the FAA test standard is the same as the IMC minima aside, the JAA is slightly tighter but virtually negligable).