.... and made it MORE restrictive - not an easement in sight.
You now need a ceiling of 1500ft, and for IMC/IR holders the minimum heights and minimum visibility have also increased.
The latter is probably a bit acedemic, but the 1500ft ceiling now prohibits, for example, circuit training in perfectly flyable nights.
I could not care less whether it is called Night VFR or IFR. But this is yet another restriction, and with SERA (Single European Rules of the Air) I suspect more are coming - one I know of is a minimum height of 500ft above ground or water. That won't help us instructing and maintaining the PFL skills...