UK PPL (A) to EASA PPL (A)
 

I know this has been covered partially on other threads.

(a) What happens if someone who holds a lifetime UK PPL (A) and decides to apply for a EASA PPL (A) after 8th April 2018?

(b) Can the CAA legally charge £70 for changing a UK to EASA licence, having issued a lifetime UK PPL (A)?

(c) Can a UK PPL gain grandfather rights on EASA aircraft?

Of course the CAA can make the £73 charge approved by the Secretary of State;

The Civil Aviation Authority, pursuant to Section 11 of the Civil Aviation Act 1982 and after consulting the persons who, in its opinion, are likely to be affected by the Scheme or such of those persons as it thinks fit, and after consulting with the Secretary of State, hereby makes a Scheme for determining the charges to be paid to the CAA in connection with the performance by the CAA of the following functions:

If you have not applied for the EASA PPL by April 2018 depending on the rating you have SSEA or SEP, your privileges will be restricted to the UK only. Which means no EASA recognised aircraft.

Any ratings that are current and valid will be transferred onto the EASA licence. You must apply though. Do not rely on the CAA to transfer automatically ANY of your ratings. No additional charges will be made for current and valid ratings. A charge will be made for rating applications at a later date. Any ratings not valid at the time of applying will be entered onto the back of the licence as non valid until renewed. DO not forget to list all ratings valid or not to ensure they are recorded on the licence.

It is pointless to delay applying for it is a one off charge for a lifetime licence. DO NOT TEAR UP YOUR UK LICENSE keep it valid alongside your new EASA licence (LAPL or PPL)

So long as you meet the requirements of Annex II to Regulation 1178/2011 you will succeed.
A grandfather right is the ability to continue exercising a privilege once held following a change in regulation that might require additional qualifications to gain that privilege. As there were no EASA aircraft prior to 2012 there are no privileges to be grandfathered.

Fl1ingfrog ..... I agree that private pilors should retain their UK PPL, if the CAA allows that. I'm not sure the EASA PPL is a lifetime licence, the UK PPL was meant to be a lifetime licence. Who knows what will happen when we leave Europe.

As for the CAA fee of £70, based on 20,000 PPL holders that's is whopping £1.4 million to the CAA, cha ching. It is of note that the DVLA do not charge to change from the old style paper driving licence to the new european style photocard driving licence, other changes are £17 (online).

As it's a licence issued by the UK then what happens in Europe has little bearing on the matter, the UK is responsible for its longevity.
Considering one of the EU objectives for EASA is The old UK PPL is an ICAO licence yet EASA deceide not to accept it as valid within the EASA member States; it is not even second Class yet it remains a valid ICAO licence elswhere in the World.

The CAA re-issued all pilot licences not so long ago, free of charge, to meet the ICAO requirement for ELP and a similar process should have been adopted to align existing ICAO licences with EASA. Unfortunately, there was no govt funding for this process and the holder has had to pay for it. The whole process has been badly managed both Nationally and at the EASA end. All involved have totally lost sight of the Aim, if they ever had it in sight!