They are controlled by a very tough regulating body
That's a laugh ... I worked for a Luxembourg operator and the Luxembourg CAA has sub-contracted their Flight Operations Inspectorate to Bureau Veritas of France.
Along would come Mr LeS.... arriving late morning off a train from Lille, once the niceties were out of the way it would be time for the directors to take him for lunch (have you ever seen how much red wine a French man can get thru during a lunchtime?), thereafter he would be so drunk we would simply fly thru our inspections before putting him back on a train to Lille
