therefore a cadre of experienced pilots was necessary for the introduction.
No, that's not the version I got from a Virgin mate that was on my induction way back. He was an experienced ATR driver along with others that had ATR C&T that wanted to be involved for whatever reason. There were 50 applicants all up.
I guess the big issue is that if you or I go to the EU with 10,000 hours on a 737 we will have to start the licence from scratch with zero prior experience recognised. I think EU to AU is a case of a Air Law, medical and a sim ride for the conversion.
My number one gripe with the industry is the lack of portability of the licence and medicals. It's pretty pathetic.