Berlin, January 22 - Ending Schengen would be catastrophic for Europe, European Parliament President Martin Schulz said Friday. Speaking in an interview with German newspaper Passauer Neue Presse, he said: "It seems to me that many of those who have discussed the closure of the borders in recent days, effectively sounding the death knell of Schengen, can't or don't want to imagine the catastrophic effects it would have." Schulz said ending Schengen would bring about "enormous economic damage" and represent a "threat to growth and jobs". Also on Friday, Italian Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan voiced support for a "European Marshall Plan" to tackle the refugee crisis via economic aid in the asylum seekers' home countries. Padoan said the plan, originally suggested by German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble Thursday, was in the right "spirit". "Italy is certainly in favour of a European strategy, not forgetting that Schengen is fundamental in all this," he said. The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American program to help rebuild Western European economies after the end of World War II, in which the United States gave $13 billion (approximately $130 billion in current dollar value as of August 2015) in economic aid.