A question from a slightly different stance for those who have scrutinised the NPA: if an IMCR holder were to add an EIR to their repertoire, would the combined privileges equal those of a full IR holder flying solely in the UK (notwithstanding visibility and descent minima)? It seems possible to depart Southern Europe in VFR, fly IFR en-route, then complete an IAP in the UK.
It should work, so long as you can file an IFR routing via Eurocontrol such that the terminating waypoint of the enroute section is
not in UK Class A-C, because the IMCR does not give you IFR privileges for Class A-C.
You will have to file a route which terminates in Class D, or OCAS, basically.
The ability to do this depends on how strictly Eurocontrol enforce the last waypoint of the enroute section connecting to the first waypoint of the STAR. In the UK, this seems pretty loose, and a DCT to a waypoint further down the STAR ought to work provided it is shorter than 50nm (100nm if below FL100).
If landing at an OCAS airport, there isn't going to be a formal STAR anyway, so the route can just end with a DCT or two as desired.
I have just had a quick look at Bournemouth (Class D) and e.g. the arrivals from the south east are no problem either, as no explicit enroute terminator waypoint is given; you can seemingly just pick any of SAM, GWC, CAMRA, WAFFU, etc. Cardiff appears similar.
Flight Plan Pro is the tool I use for Eurocontrol routings. It's free, so grab a copy and have a play. The lowest airway level worth trying is FL070 and FL100 generally works a lot better. I always go for min FL090, desired FL140, max FL190.
If you want a web-only facility (which can run on a smartphone, etc) then
Rocketroute gives you the same routing features as FPP. RR uses the same routing software as FPP (written by the same person - a poster here
).
For those who develop their routings using a separate tool (such as FPP) there is
EuroFPL which is what I use. They offer the Eurocontrol "route suggest" facility which is usually OK, but the FPP routes tend to be better optimised.