A top European Union leader has warned the current debt crisis could lead to the collapse of Greece, Spain and Portugal.

The London Daily Mail reports European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso worries that southern Europe could be a victim of military coups and popular uprisings.

He says governments will run out of money and public service will collapse, unless something is done to tackle the debt crisis.

"He's very, very worried," John Monks, former head of the Trades Union Congress said of Barroso. "He shocked us with an apocalyptic vision of democracies in Europe collapsing because of the state of indebtedness."

The warning comes as the EU starts work on a bailout package for Spain worth hundreds of billions of dollars.

A similar package has already been approved for Greece.