I have stayed out of this little spat until now as I have no interest in the IMC Rating but there is one statement that I cannot let pass without comment.
EASA's goal is about raising safety standards to a common level in Europe
This is simply not true. The fact is that EASA's goal is about achieving a common level of safety standards in Europe that will involve some countries (mainly in the south) raising their standards and others (mainly in the north) lowering them. As with everything EU, it's all about 'one size fits all' which, of course, it never does.