Sedbergh
The UK gliding community lost out big time with EASA. However this came about because we had a relatively relaxed approach compared with our European friends. In looking at recreational pilots license comparison we have one of the more restrictive approached than Europe. IO540 is quite right that there is a long way to go, but the initial indications are that the European lobby for a “sensible” VFR recreational license is strong and the proposals are likely to reflect this. ( the UK GA Alliance is very involved)
The problem which may happen is the group which sits just above the “VFR for fun” group. A recreational license is essentially a flying for fun license. The JAA PPL is not, it allows pilots to move on to commercial licenses, and it allows a full IR. It is the split of the JAA PPL into recreational and other which is the potential threat. The up side of this is that the numbers of pilots impacted is likely to be a few 100, but if you have got an IR and spent £100k on an IFR aircraft and you get shafted by EASA you are not going to be happy, and I can see why.
From the VFR point of view we are likely to get a less expensive license with a sub JAA medical and comparatively low cost training. I understand the likely implementation is mid 09, so this is actually not very far away.
Rod1