“Of course the grass strip operators won't be concerned about any of this - why should they be?”
That is a little harsh, I fly from a strip and have an IMCR, and we both know of people with IR’S that do the same. The LAA have a significant number of members who have IMCR, and C of A aircraft so it is not just about home built aircraft. We all want to fly into as many places as possible, but all of GA is being forced out of regional airfields. The CAA are vastly increasing the charges to the smaller licensed GA fields which are all struggling. By comparison the strips and the micro training are going very very well. If the new rules allow training to be done on unlicensed strips then many small GA airfields will downgrade to unlicensed and probably see a big hike in numbers. Popem is a good example of an unlicensed “strip” which is a hive of activity compared with most licensed GA bases. I would rather see more busy strips than more deserted, crumbling licensed airfields.
I understand the problem, the issue is if you devolve control of “sport aviation” to groups like the LAA, both on the aircraft and the pilot licensing side then EASA can walk away. This could well create a very positive environment for sport aviation, but what happens to the tear above. Unfortunately the JAA PPL has been a disaster from everyone’s point of view. At least if we get the “light” end sorted part of the system will work and we may be able to do something about the tear up. I am not aware of any planes to touch the CPL/IR end of the spectrum, are you?
Another “hot potato” is the upgrade path. When I did my CAA PPL I never intended to fly commercially, but it was the only game in town. If the new license is the same as the NPPL but Europe wide I will switch straight across as it will give me what I need, hopefully at reduced medical costs. I, and the vast majority of the sport flyers would not care if there was no upgrade path, but some are very adamant that there must be. There is no right or wrong answer to this one.
Rod1