This to me makes a strong case for taking an IAP when one is available,
Very much agree.
Allow at-least an EIR to accept STARs and IAPs when they can do so whilst remaining VMC
I would like to think that the ban on arrival and approach procedures
even in VMC is a c0ckup.
My main beef with the otherwise useful EIR proposal is that it bans SIDs and STARs. Specifically, it means you gave to cancel IFR at or before the last enroute waypoint, which means that your legal preflight planning has to include a verification of VFR conditions at that waypoint, for which there is no obvious process, internet or no internet. I also think it will confuse the hell out of ATC, not least because that last waypoint is prob99 going to be in CAS, and at an altitude at which VFR traffic would not be desired in many/most countries in Europe.
As a side point, flying conventional-navaid IAPs is a whole lot easier if you have a moving map GPS
