The EQE "Pre-Exam" - Who Needs It?

A concerned reader has written to the IPKat with the following:

"I’m having trouble obtaining information on the new “pre-examination” for the EQE and wondered if any enlightened Kats know how it is going to work. It would appear that this new exam is due to be held in 2012 for the first time, and can be taken by those with at least 2 years relevant experience. By then I will have had 3 years experience, and would have been expecting to take the usual A, B, C and D papers without any pre-exam. But do I now have to take the pre-exam in 2012, before taking the real exams in 2013, extending my minimum qualification time by a year? Or, as suggested by one particular reader in a previous IPKat post, will this be a transitional year? That is, will those with 3 years experience, who could have enrolled for the usual papers, be able to enrol for the proper exams without having to take the pre-exam? I note that the EPO website is resplendent with exam information, but seems rather silent on this point.

I also note that the CIPA Journal, April 2010, had a short piece on the pre-exam on p217, however the “clarification” that “as long as you are already in the EQE system by 2012, you do not need to take the Preliminary Examination” doesn’t really clarify anything for me, because I am not sure what being in the EQE system means – does it mean that I must have already taken some exams before 2012 or does it mean that I must have enrolled by July 2011 for the first ones to be taken in March 2012?"

The IPKat and his various helpers are unfortunately unable to provide a clear answer to this question.  Can any readers help?