Well on the medical front, last year i had heart surgery, and can't get my FAA Medical back, but i got my JAA Class One back very quickly.
So from my experience i dont see how flying on the FAA medical is more of a safety issue.
"The medical" is a very controversial issue in Europe. I think JAA experts such as Prof Bagshaw had a genuine interest to go over all possible pathologies and condititions and relate them to aviation. So far so good.
Then the legal drafters came into action, turning almost any condition that "can affect flight safety" into a disqualifying paragraph. The reason for this modus operandi is a well known phenomenon : when you ask a committee about a policy stance, the strictest possible interpretation emerges as a concensus. This has occured in aviation medicine, but it works just as well in evironmental safety procedures, competition law, wherever. These committees have no incentive to be reasonable. On the contrary, a medical committee can only be found fault if they omit or neglect to consider a disqualifying condition. In addition, a lot of CAA's are very anti-GA, (ab-)using the medical as a restriction device, which is why there is nothing foreseen like a third class medical. Add to that the Airlines' lobby to "keep their airspace free", with little organised counterweight from private pilot organisations.
This was then turned into law, leaving very little discretion to the medical boards of the individual civil aviation authorities, and no generalised system of individual case revision as we they have in the United States. Instead, disqualified candidates are facing costly and lenghty appeals.
Overall, I believe the FAA system is more lenient than the JAR as regards medical certification (exceptions like the one stated above notwithstanding). I think we need a third class medical in Europe that allows the excercise of PPL privileges commensurate with the risks involved. I also believe that whatever the class medical we are talking about, grounds for disqualification should be motivated by proper statistical evidence and backed up by a proper appeals procedure, including "in flight" examinations or "statements of demonstrated ability".
I know at least 3 pilots who continue to fly N reg, as EU citizens, on FAA simply because they cant get their medical renewed in EU...
so no safety issues then??
Indeed, no safety issues, simply because certain disqualifications under EASA have NO STATISTICAL BACKING WHATSOEVER. Indeed, if an FAA medical were doubtful, Europe should immediately blacklist all American Airline Companies from flying into EU airspace.