I was just reading about this subject yesterday. In the Netherlands, exam authorization has been delegated to the KNVvL for gliding. Their exam is supposedly ICAO compliant, so what they issue at the moment is an ICAO compliant GPL which should be valid for flight worldwide.
Indeed, with EASA around the corner, this is going to change. There will be a LAPL(G) (Light Aeroplane Pilot License) and a SPL (Sailplane Pilots License). LAPL is the new, generic, Euro-wide sub-ICAO license for light aircraft, and the SPL is ICAO compliant and thus valid worldwide.
The theory and practical requirements for both will be the same, the only difference is the medical. SPL will require an EASA class II (identical to a PPL today) but the LAPL(G) will have less requirements (self declaration in combination with a GP visit.)
Theory requirements will change compared to the current ICAO GPL. Instead of six, there are now nine exams. Four of these overlap with the current PPL syllabus. Actually, it seems these four will be common to all variants of the LAPL, including (G), (A) and (M). The other five have the same title as their current PPL counterparts but are specific to gliding.
Practical requirements will change as well and are indeed leaning more towards the Bronze/Silver qualifications. Although they don't fully implement those.
Specifically, here is the full list of requirements for the LAPL(G) and SPL, at least according to the website I found below. (Translation and comments are mine though.)
- 16 years of age
- Minimum 15 hours flight experience (minimum 3 hr solo, 12 hr dual) and 45 starts (doesn't specify solo starts though)
- A 50 km solo x-country, or 100 km with an instructor
- At most 10 hours on a TMG (I assume they mean at most 10 hours can be counted towards license requirements)
- Minimum of 10 hours experience after getting your passenger endorsement. (I don't understand this at all. To me, this implies that you are allowed to fly with passengers before you get the license. That can't be right.)
- If you have another type of license, you can count 10% of those hours, to a maximum of 6 hours, towards the experience requirements
- You have to do the theory- and practical bits of the course at an ATO (approved training organization) and they determine whether you are ready for the exam.
- You have to have theoretical knowledge at the ICAO level through a pass in the nine theoretical exams. All theoretical exams must be finished within 18 months after the first pass.
- All theory plus practical exams need to be finished within 24 monts after passing the first exam.
- The authorized start methods are initially only those that were done during the exam. (You need endorsements for other start methods.)
And strangely, I could not find any conversion path from an ICAO compliant, Dutch-issued GPL to an EASA LAPL(G) or GPL.
All this comes from the following page, which is unfortunately in Dutch:
zweefvliegopleiding