The exams are not difficult and if you have think your FAA qualifications are equivalent then it's just a case of submitting yourself for the exams. You don't need to do any mandatory study or classroom. Simples!
I asked CATS and they said that option is only available to people with 500 hours multi-crew?
It's not a shortcut, just trying to do away with something that is totally unnecessary. That's not just my view, but that of many of my peers. The only people who disagree are those who have done all this nonsense themselves, and are trying to justify what a huge waste of time/money it was, and make everyone else suffer cuz "that's just how it is". There is no safety case for any of this, and if a licence/certificate is already ICAO standard, then why does EASA have to reinvent the wheel and ask for more than that required?
It's all a big money making exercise... and I can still hop in an N-reg tomorrow and earn money in the UK, and fly airways with everyone else, and be no less safe. Maybe not for much longer, but all the talk of bilateral agreements makes a lot more sense than the current system. I would happily take any flight tests tomorrow, as I have nothing to hide and am sure I'm at the required operational standard.