1. (a) Yes. It can be any PPL issued by an ICAO member country.
1. (b) There seems to be a bit of a kerfuffle about that at the moment. A lot of mix ups and confusion, depending on who you talk to - so much for EASA being Europe's answer to the FAA.
2. No, the time for CPL buildup can be logged in any aircraft in any country as long as that aircraft is a "type" in EASA land. So basically any Piper, Cessna, Cirrus etc etc.
Whatever you do, avoid doing a full Non-EASA CPL plus multiengine instrument rating and plan to "convert" that. It won't be any cheaper and if you don't budget correctly you could be waiting a long time to finish that.