Gents thanks for all the inputs.
Funnily enough, the EASA official I spoke with did hint at the possibility of transferring the state of issuance in order to bypass the excessively zealous and crassly ignorant pen pushers...
@Mustapha, if you read my post earlier today, I mention Article 8... Read the first three paragraphs...
It's sad that the alternative is either taking your (In)Competent Authority to court or transfer of state. I have had to transfer state a few times due to work reasons and it's a lengthy process taking at best a couple of months - I simply do not have the time and energy to do it again.