"Nasty little European regulation..."
.... was the description used by the EE in his/ her OP.
Two observations:
i) Why exactly should highly paid aircrew be entitled to freeload off the back of European tax and social security payers in any of the 27 jurisdictions within the EU?
ii)If this small element of tightening up on the massive loopholes which Ryanair has been using for more than a decade deserves the pejorative term "nasty", what adjectival term applies to the airline itself ?