You will not be able to fly any EASA aircraft registered in an EU member state or even a 'N' registered aircraft if it is being operated by an operator based in the EU.
Simply speaking, if you want to operate in Europe you WILL need an EASA Part-FCL licence.
To obtain an EASA professional licence you will either need to go down the Integrated CPL/IR route (say goodbye to £80,000+ in the UK) although there are plenty of schools in other EU countries far cheaper - one in Greece charges 60,000 Euros) or you can go down the Modular route where you first need a PPL(A) and then you need to do the 14 x ATPL examinations - you need these on the integrated - as well as CPL(A), IR(A) and MEP Rating courses. With 200 hours total time you can apply for a CPL/IR. You then need to complete a MCC course and Type Rating (another £25,000) before applying for your first job. Of course you could be lucky enough to find an airine that will sponsor you......
Go down the FAA route and you will find things a tad cheaper, but you require 250 hours for CPL(A) issue and also last year the FAA issued a proposal that all airline pilots engaged in passenger operations would require a minimum of 1,500 hours - I'm not sure where that proposal went.
You will also need to be able to speak and understand English to a certain minimum level (ICAO Level 4) although in reality the introduction of that requirement by some countries has been laughable with Level 6 (Expert) being handed out like confetti at a wedding gala.
That's the basic info - I hope it is of some use and best of luck.
