@t/s: just come flying in civilised FIR's and you can forget about all that crap. In continental FIR's, you are either controlled or not-controlled, and that's it.
Non-controlled meaning that you are not under any obligation to call them, but you always can. If you have no transponder, they'll be unable to do very much for you, yet they'll help when asked. You might even be told about possibly conflicting traffic but only at times of great quiet, i.e. not on a sunny Saturday or Sunday afternoon. In some FIRs, you might be queried about your position and/or intentions, each every so often.
The whole "traffic / basic / extended" issue is no more than another UK-only peculiarity.