Surely even the Commission can't make the UK bin a rating that directly contributes to flight safety? Or am I being naive?
I'm afraid you are.
I was at the workshop organised by the RAeC to discuss the response to EASA NPLs. What was made incredibly clear was that EASA activities are based on a simple premise - safety comes from standardisation. National ratings are out and only put their backs up. If you use comments like
'...but a national UK CAA one will continue once the CAA make a differences filing with the EC.'
this goes against the very beliefs of EASA and will be kicked into touch.
To win agreement you have to play a clever political game, which is how the French manage to hold on to the altiport rating and Brevet de Base.