I have just spoken to 'the man who knows' at the ATC Netherlands AIS, Schipol regarding ELT/PLB in Dutch airspace.
He confirmed that for non-AOC flights a PLB is sufficient.
NOTE that he defined PLB as a PORTABLE Locator Beacon correctly registered as an approved device with the UK authorities (eg UK ELT Database, UKMCC, ARCC, RAF Kinloss) and NOT a Personal Loc Bcn 'as used by hill walkers' etc.
So what's this new device they have just invented then? Can they point to a definition or a PORTABLE (as opposed to PERSONAL) Locator Becaon?
I have a McMurdo Fastfind PLB (the manufacturer says this stands for Personal Locator Beacon) which is registered with ARCC Kinloss AND with MRCC Plymouth for both Aviation and Marine use.
The difference between a Personal Locator Beacon and a Survival ELT
Survival ELT (ELT-S):
an ELT which is removable from an aircraft, stowed
so as to facilitate its ready use in an emergency, and
manually activated by survivors.
which is referred to in the Dutch AIC appears to be that the ELT-S transmits the aircraft's 24 bit ID while a PLB does not have the facility.
The Dutch AIC states:-
The ELT must contain the "aircraft 24-bit address"
belonging to the aircraft in which it is installed. The
mandates for carriage and operation of an ELT are only
for aeroplanes and helicopters for international flights.
International in this case means passing the Dutch border.
Which indicates that a PLB is not acceptable. What your man is saying does not accord with what the AIC says.