Does EASA require airliners to be fitted with autopilots?
Indeed EASA requires &quot;autopilot&quot; but they don't state it directly like &quot;every airliner flying in the European airspace must be autopilot equipped&quot;. They require it indirectly.
When I first read your post I immediately thought of RVSM. I recall talking to an ATCO (retired now) about automation on board, and he told me that without autopilot you cannot fly in RVSM airspace.
So I had a look in skybrary concerning RVSM and they did the dirty job for us. They mention all 3 EASA regulations  IR-OPS SPA.RVSM.100 and SPA.RVSM.110, EU-OPS 1.241, EU-OPS 1.872 and they have quoted the interesting parts:

Regulatory Requirements[...]
An operator shall ensure that aeroplanes operated in RVSM airspace are equipped with:[...]
An automatic altitude control system

Emphasis is mine.
There might be other regulations requiring other automatic flight components but I am not aware of them although a quick look in the documents reveals references to auto-land systems as well so these documents cover more than RVSM.
The summary is that EASA does not simply specify &quot;you need autopilot if you fly an airliner&quot; but they go into detail, of what they require and for what reason.

Acronyms
RVSM Reduced Vertical Separation Minima
ATCO Air Traffic Control Officer