Fresh from 2 days in Cologne (at EASA). I am very much aware of this issue and I am 99% sure it is on the agenda, amongst many other things, at next month's "comitology" meeting of member states in the EASA Committee. It is late now but I recall seeing that this question is to be clarified in the final draft of OPS regulations and that "cost sharing" within certain parameters (e.g. max 6 people including pilot) is not regarded as 'remuneration' / "commercial". There are other qualifying criteria which are quite normal. It never was the intention of EASA to make such arrangements commercial but drafting in English can sometimes not get across the full intentions of the rule-makers. And of course different countries interpret the rules slightly differently, due to translation issues as others have alluded to.
The whole question of the definition of "commercial operations" in the Basic Regulation, and its interpretation, is now at last under review at the Commission, as a result of several years of pressure from the organisation I lead, and others. The issue was one of the main ones to be brought forward in the GA Safety Strategy paper that was produced for the EASA Management (i.e. Governance) Board last year by a broad based group of experts led by DGAC / France.
Usual legal caveats etc etc......
DGR / President, Europe Air Sports