The CAA interpretation of JAR FCL 1-185 is contrary to the intention of the 7 year rule. From the horses' mouth, the 7 years is only intended to exclude those who haven't held and been exercising the right of any IR. I suspect the motivation for this is to increase revenue through testing and examining.
I read with interest that the CAA had only appied to be the EASA licencing agency - the decision who gets the job has yet to be made. I sincerely hope that it isn't them. If it is, they won't be able to interpret EASA FCL for their own ends from July.