Fredacheck
No, you misunderstand me. I'm saying that the scenarios where it is of practical use are rare in UK weather conditions
No, I was only disagreeing with the view that it was of no practical use. I can see plenty of scenarios where it is useful. I'm not saying it's more useful than the IMCr, only more useful than nothing between the PPL and the IR if the IMCr campaign fails, and more useful than nothing for European pilots who won't have access to the IMCr.
IMC flight (or VFR on top) is substantially more risky than VMC. We don't need these extra risks,
VFR on top is perfectly acceptable in the rest of the world (I know the rest of the world has an awful habit of being out of step with the UK, so they must be all wrong....)
but we've got a solution: it's the IMC Rating.
The EIR is an alternative to
nothing between the PPL and IR for all the other pilots in Europe who won't have access to the IMCr "solution" and for UK pilots if the IMCr solution fails. It also might have value for UK pilots who might actually want to fly long trips in airways outside the UK without worrying about enroute weather, as long as their destination is VFR.