Far from encouraging the CAA to have their current approach, many UK pilots think that the CAA is a major impediment to the development and well-being of the UK helicopter industry.
There can be a slight "drawbridge" tendency to pilots' licences but the CAA's repressive influence permeates almost every part of our business. For example, I would suggest that the UK professional helicopter flying training industry is likely to be in an even worse state in 10 years or so, than it is now (which is pretty difficult). Despite the difficulty of transferring licences and ratings, there are numerous examples where it is cheaper to get the US/CAN/AUS/NZ equivalent and then pay to transfer it than do the full licence/rating in the UK. Once the pathways are established, they will be used more frequently.