I agree with the idea behind JAA, of integrating what should be a completely international industry. However the implementation has, typically for an EU-based bureaucracy been terrible. It is characterised by meaningless demands, irrational decisions and protection of small special interests. Particularily in my current industry (pilot training) it has been apalling. For 4 months no-one in 4 countries passed all the ATPL exams. That suggests something was desperately wrong. Yet the CAA was not allowed to do anything about it, even though they were being uncharacteristically helpful.
Against the will of every other member of his committee the chairman (a German) blocked some proposals (EU committees on which these are based are apparently not democratic, the chairman decides). The French blocked a British proposal that native English speakers should be responsible for the final draft of the questions in the question bank, even after they had grudgingly accepted that this would be in English. This led to some questions that the examiners still cannot understand!
JAA implementation was a farce. For gods sake they didn't realise that licenced flight engineers were still needed, and when I studied Air Law one part (the extra freedoms of the air) was still only written in Spanish (8 months after it became UK law!).
There needed to be stronger leadership, more input from pilots, from the industry, from the flying schools and no bl**dy Eurocrats. Oh, and no Frogs, as they ruin every international agreement by throwing out the teddy if they don't get exactly their way.