what is permitted and conducted safely today in individual countries should continue to be permitted under the new regime
The quote should perhaps have been: "..... should continue to be conducted by individual countries".
Like many things relating to Europe, this is a very expensive solution looking for a non existent problem. Even the Commission suggested this recently when it told EASA to stop re-inventing the wheel. The principle of individual licensing regimes set to an international standard is so well established that it is difficult to see what this process is adding to either cost or safety, since non EU countries' nationals will continue to fly in EU airspace using their own licences. The continuation of national licences and ratings will have a zero impact on the single market so what is the entire process about? What it is about is Europe getting its fingers into every aspect of national life, asserting itself at the expense of individual countries.
If they wanted a sub ICAO sport pilot licence (whatever you choose to call it) then they should have focussed on that and simply validated national ICAO licences across the whole of Europe, which could be done so simply and cheaply compared to this bureaucratic gravy train which is now rumbling along gathering speed.