ATC will very rarely ask you for your qualifications. Simply its not their job and sets a dangerous precedent. If you request and / or accept an ifr clearance the assumption is you are entitled to do so.
In France, if you want to land NVFR with no FPL, ATC will ask if you are equipped and rated (and it is recorded). I’ve been asked personally.
Same if you ask to switch IFR with no FPL.
If you want to fly an approach at a controlled field in VMC not IFR rated, you can only ask for a very long final and ATC will probably guess what you are doing 
So you can fly IFR procedures on a VFR flight, but you will be treated like any over pure VFR flight.
There is no practice approaches in France. I asked once on frequency to be sure
Fuji_Abound wrote:
ATC will very rarely ask you for your qualifications. Simply its not their job and sets a dangerous precedent. If you request and / or accept an ifr clearance the assumption is you are entitled to do so.
that’s correct, and it shouldn’t be their concern. I’ve heard VFR pilots being asked ‘are you instrument flying capable’ which builds some kind of a bridge, I guess.
In the UK most of the time you only get charged for IAP/ILS if you are inbound IFR, if you are VFR and still want an ILS slot to fly, it then make sure that confusion on who pays the bill is sorted before getting in the air and then in the air make sure you call as VFR, there is a big difference between I am entitled to (which you are) and its is free (who knows?)
EuroFlyer wrote:
I’ve heard VFR pilots being asked ‘are you instrument flying capable’ which builds some kind of a bridge, I guess.
I think that way of phrasing it is to cover both the pilot and aircraft.
GA_Pete wrote:
Hi Timothy, I’m starting to doubt my memory but incase you can remember, it was the entiire Channel islands zone when heading to Brittany.
That was the case until a few years ago, but, as others have said, anywhere that can now offer SVFR is now Class D, so available VFR.
I think, and I don’t have time to check, that it is still true to say that you cannot get an SVFR crossing of Class D. It’s only if you are landing or taking off within it. Thus a VFR pilot can only cross Class D under VFR, not SVFR.
Timothy wrote:
think, and I don’t have time to check, that it is still true to say that you cannot get an SVFR crossing of Class D. It’s only if you are landing or taking off within it. Thus a VFR pilot can only cross Class D under VFR, not SVFR.
There is no such restriction in SERA. It only talks about “operating” in the control zone.
Timothy wrote:
I think, and I don’t have time to check, that it is still true to say that you cannot get an SVFR crossing of Class D. It’s only if you are landing or taking off within it. Thus a VFR pilot can only cross Class D under VFR, not SVFR.
Practically, given the small size of the zones you will be be very luck to find a day when you are VFR (in VMC) outside the zone while the weather is IMC (or less than VMC) inside the zone 
If you stay inbound or outbound to the zone that problem is much easier to grasp…
Probably, SVFR now applies only to helis operating in Heathrow/City/Gatwick zones?
Ibra wrote:
Practically, given the small size of the zones you will be be very luck to find a day when you are VFR (in VMC) outside the zone while the weather is IMC (or less than VMC) inside the zone
The point is that in G airspace (outside the zone) you only need to be clear of clouds, while in a D zone you’ll need to keep minimum distances (vertical / horizontal) from cloud
Ibra wrote:
Practically, given the small size of the zones you will be be very luck to find a day when you are VFR (in VMC) outside the zone while the weather is IMC (or less than VMC) inside the zone
Such weather is not unusual. Anytime the cloudbase is between 500 and 1500 feet.
