I think any half decent flight departments look at the regulations as the minimum level they need to achieve, not the target they must strive to achieve. As soon as the industry as a whole stops looking at what they have to do "legally" and instead concentrate on what they must do to ensure safe operations we will see less moaning by individuals about EASA standards. Look to ICAO, EASA and your SOR; determine which of the standards are most onerous for each area of operation and aim to exceed them. If you're aiming to tick the boxes you really aren't running a safe operation.