Counting the hours
Sorry, I'm afraid this is a newbie question, but did a search and couldn't find a previous answer and it's rather important for me that I get this right, so I humbly ask your advice.
Hours flown and logged in the US are not counted towards your ATPL, I have been told, because the hours are flown under FAA regulations (I am based in Europe, so I'l be aiming for a JAR-licence).
If this is true (?), does that mean my hours flown in the USA will not count towards my IR/ME/CPL either? So for example I need 200 hours total for the CPL, but I cannot count the hours I have been doing in the US? In that case I don't understand why it's so popular to go to the US to do hour building?
Any clarification will be greatly appreciated