Yes, there are schools going right away for traffic circuit on lesson one, most I heard in connection to this was to speed up PPL stage for the future CPL & ATPL staff (original quote from a fellow instructor: "no need for stinkin' manual skills once they are push-button airline cockpit clowns").
EASA does not provide guides - as far as I know, but many countries introduced a "reasonable training syllabus" to be presented at ATO certification and reviewed against on frequent audits.