"We in Europe have been on a downward path for some time now. The trust of many people in institutions as a whole, whether national or European, has been lost," Schulz told the German Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung daily’s Tuesday edition, Sputnik News reported.
An "implosion of the EU" would be triggered should voters back the Vote Leave campaign in the June 23 referendum for Britain’s membership in the bloc, the chief European lawmaker said.
Schulz raised fears of "enemy movements within Europe" and the rising popularity of left- or right-wing populist movements, providing last week’s Dutch referendum rejecting the EU-Ukraine association agreement as an example.
"The EU has been created as a tool for solving problems, but many people think of it as a part of the problem rather than a solution," Schulz said.
Euroskeptic sentiment has emerged out of the margins in a number of EU member states against the backdrop of mass migration and unfavorable fiscal policies.