From Supplementary techniques - Flight Controls.
"Crosswind landings are conventional.........................The aircarft tends to roill gently in the conventional sense as drift decreases, and the pilot may have to use some normal cross control to maintain roll attitude."
John Citizen. The FCOMs contradict themselves in several areas, but as far as my company is concerned, the imperative "Should'' in our manuals is the over-riding one. It's not "Must" or "Mandatory", but when we are told that we should use the crab technique, we do not really have a choice. If you scrape a pod using a different technique, the excuses will run out very quickly.
FCOMs vary from company to company. Ours don't have the crosswind landing techniques section in 3.02.22. I have a copy of a UK operator's FCOM 3 which does. And our FCOM 3 is currently being re-written to align with our parent company, and that is different again.
The Airbus Briefing Notes also contradict our company policy - which is probably why they aren't officially made available to us. The discalimer at the end says:
"This FOBN is intended to enhance the reader's flight safety awareness but it shall not supersede the applicable regulations and the Airbus or airline's operational documentation; should any deviation appear between this FOBN and the Airbus or airline’s AFM / (M)MEL / FCOM / QRH / FCTM, the latter shall prevail at all times".
As an aside, I recently performed an autoland close to the 20kt crosswind limit. The aircraft stayed on the centreline perfectly using a progressive roll input to counter the drift as the aircraft de-crabbed. It was smoother than a no crosswind autoland, which can be a bit firm with the IAE engine fit.