That's very kind of you, Dave.
When we heard that the FCL.008 gang had failed to come up with a proposal for the retention of the UK IMCR, the first change we secured was to retain IMCR privileges for those who'd ever held them before.
Then when we learned about the French getting their way with their Brevet de Base, I proposed to EASA that this precedent should also be exteneded to the IMCR. "No", they said, "That's not possible!".
Well, that was May 2011. So we then called for the restoration of the pervious JAA flexibility. But the 'One Rule, one Europe, one Leader!' attitude of these €urocrats was having none of it.
But then in October 2013, the European Commission, rather than the square-heads in EASA, came up with exactly the proposal I'd first propose 2½ years previously...and the vote in favour was unanimous. It should now become law in (probably) June 2014.
Danny and his generation fought to ensure that Great Britain would survive rather than be crushed under jackboots - and despite the wishes of deviant politicians, I was damned if I was going to let some unelected €urocrats push us around some 70 years later. Fortunately, there is now a change in the air and it seems that a more robust manner is now being taken by the UK when dealing with €urocracy.
One hesitates to draw politics into PPRuNe, but googling 'Nigel Farage vs. Barroso' on YoofTube is always good for some light relief!
Now let's get back to the theme of the thread!
One