Justicair, you have to look at it the other way round. There will still be a fully ICAO compliant PPL in the form of the EASA PPL just as with the JAA PPL. You will be able to add any ICAO compliant ratings to it that you want, ME, IR, SET etc etc etc.
The LAPL is going to be a European wide NPPL. So those that have an NPPL actually gain. It is also aimed at the permit type flyer who is really only interested in the local bimble or day vfr only travel. So for the permit tourer a licence that is cheap and easy to maintain like the NPPL but allows them to go into Europe is a benefit and keeps in with the low cost theme of their aviation.
I would be interested to see how many of those types who would go onto the LAPL would actually go an fly outside of Europe.
For the more adventurous the route of an ICAO PPL is still there and so they can go off an fly around the world and add lots more exotic ratings. The bridge between the two still has to be finalised but just as with an NPPL now you can convert to a JAA PPL you will be able to convert an LAPL to an EASA PPL.
For those that already hold a JAA PPL it is just a paperwork exercise.
The IMCR would have been a natural addition to the LAPL but it was shot out of the water when certain parties insisted the LAPL was to be a day VFR only licence. So the actual licensing structure makes sense largely, it is just things like the IMCR that have become orphaned as a result.