Will the FAA have to mandate a JAA License type of course for future pilots in the interest of saftey? Here is an article from Aviation Week:

European-U.S. Safety Agreement Nears

The EU and U.S.  have identified new areas for safety cooperation. The two sides are looking at exchanging data from ramp inspections, says Hickey. The U.S. already has similar agreements with other countries.

Both sides also are now working more closely to address broader safety issues. For instance, Europe and the U.S. recently coordinated their submissions to the International Civil Aviation Organization regarding pilot proficiency.

Crew training has emerged as a concern in the wake of several recent accidents, including the Feb. 12, 2009, Colgan Air Flight 3407 crash, which was blamed on pilot error and training.

But Bill Voss, president/CEO of the Flight Safety Foundation, points out that the Colgan incident was not an anomaly, noting indications of poor crew coordination in the Jan. 25 crash of an Ethiopian Boeing 737 shortly after takeoff from Beirut.

“This is becoming a serious issue,” says the FAA’s Hickey, and it could lead to more stringent requirements for first officers.

Not all safety-related issues can be addressed at the bilateral basis level. Hickey notes, “We are struggling to put forward regulations that meet a cost-benefit analysis” required under U.S. rulemaking processes. Some of the issues the FAA wants to address in terms of flight-duty time and crew rest can be difficult to quantify. “You can’t see fatigue in an autopsy,” he says in explaining the difficulty for making rules to address crew exhaustion. How to deal with the disconnect is being addressed in Washington, he notes, with discussions ongoing between the Transportation Department and White House Office of Management and Budget.