Pilots and CAAs were wondering whether all European pilots that "upgrade" from a physical JAR license to a physical EASA license would have to travel to the US to obtain a new 61.75 validation for their European license because technically speaking, the license number could be considered to be different. The EASA FCL licenses take the existing JAR license number but add "FCL.." in front of it, so e.g. German JAR license 12345 is now FCL.DE.12345.
Well, there is good news, found in the IAOPA newsletter. What is not clear to me is how I would go about that "positive identification".
This appears to be no more than a position by the FAA, which is not binding on any European NAA. The European bunch don't have to actually do anything...
The EASA FCL licenses take the existing JAR license number but add "FCL.." in front of it,
In the UK the CAA has issued EASA licences with GBR in front of the number, it used to be PP, CP or AT; no mention of FCL!
Another good reason for keeping the old National licence which is still an ICAO licence and retains the original number, letters and all.