There was never any definition of cross-country flight under JARs. The idea that any flight leaving the aerodrome pattern was a cross-country stemmed from a mis-application of a part of the UK ANO that applied solely to the authorisation powers of an AFI. Under EASA rules, however, there is a clear definition:
FCL.010 Definitions
‘Cross-country’ means a flight between a point of departure and a point of arrival following a pre-planned route, using standard navigation procedures.
The same source provides a revised (from the UK ANO) definition of flight time:
for helicopters, it means the total time from the moment a helicopter’s rotor blades start turning until the moment the helicopter finally comes to rest at the end of the flight, and the rotor blades are stopped
There is a distinction to be drawn between instrument flight and flight under IFR. Whilst the whole of a flight may be conducted under IFR (irrespective of whether the aircraft is being flown by reference to instruments) instrument flight time is defined as:
the time during which a pilot is controlling an aircraft in flight solely by reference to instruments.