Alex - that's most interesting. When you and I were at an EASA briefing at Gatwick some years ago, you may recall that I asked EASA's Michaela Verissimo that very question. She assured us that responsibility would remain with the CAA (in the case of the UK) and the CAA's Ben Alcott nodded his agreement.
The CAA has become increasingly aware that many ME military pilots are given such little PIC time in training these days that they don't even qualify for a CPL after a co-pilot tour on a TriStar, for example...
So they have to burn holes in the sky in a PA28 to meet the 70 hr minimum PIC requirement. Perhaps this has influenced their thinking?
What
evidence does the CAA have to allege that the military training system has changed since the current agreement was drawn up?
It was due to government policy in respect of qualifications gained in military service that the current arrangement was developed, as well as being a JAR-FCL obligation. Were your discussions with Cliff Whittaker? If so, maybe I should tell him that I will draw the attention of my local MP (David Cameron) to this CAA volte face and ask DC to direct the relevant department to investigate the situation further?
If the RAF system is still adequate enough to produce TriStar 'first officers', it must be good enough to meet the existing exemption arrangments!