Fredacheck,
how do they ensure that there will be a hole in the clouds at their destination?
The same way pilots everywhere else in the world do, who fly VFR on top on PPL privileges. They use weather forecasts and weather observation.
Furthermore, you cannot say that something that works in one country (e.g. Australia) will therefore work in the UK, where airspace is different, climate is different, terrain is different etc. etc. To try to extrapolate from one country to another is nonsense.
I wasn't doing that. I used the Australia example to counter Beagle's instant dismissal of the EIR as a fantasy/chocolate teapot nonsense with the obvious example that a sensible country like Australia (that has much in common with the UK in terms of the culture of regulation and FCL) has found an enroute rating workable. I know Australia is different, but how exactly is it different such that a qualification that works there is utterly unworkable here?
The thing is: if the cloud base is definitely going to be 2000 feet or more, you don't need en-route IMC as you can fly VFR below
How about when the cloudbase is 2000' for your departure and 2000' for your arrival but is
lower somewhere enroute. Is this so amazing a possibilty? Of course not. The longer your trip, the more likely you are to be uncertain about enroute weather, or risk some very marginal scud-running.
I don't think an en-route only IMC qualification is any practical use, and worse: it encourages dangerous practices.
The fact you can list some scenarios where it isn't of practical use doesn't mean anything. It's equally easy to list many scenarios where it is sefl-evidently useful, to be effectively a VFR pilot as far as weather forecasts at arrival and departure airports are, but to be an IFR pilot enroute. Everything from the instructor or aerobatic flyer who wants to pop-through a 2000' layer for training through to someone who wants less restriction and less uncertainty flying long VFR trips. No-one is claiming any particular level of "usefullness" for the EIR, certainly not as high a level as an IR or IMCr, merely that it's usefulness is not zero as the "chocolate teapot" camp claim.