Cap804 section 1 part E page 3 and page 13. I know cap804 is now reference only, but it gives the gist of their thinking.
Safety pilot time in Europe cannot be logged, despite being a required crew member. Daft I know, but that means you can't count it towards total time. However, safety pilot time flown in the US, under US regulations CAN be logged as PIC (by acting as PIC and accepting responsibility for the flight) and can count towards total time.
If you fly it and are required, you can log it.
But because safety pilot time doesn't get logged in Europe, those hours won't be counted towards licence issue. Cap804 doesn't say your can't have those hours in your logbook, it just says you can't use them for licence issue.