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'Longer leave would have a positive impact on the mother's health in general,' says a draft policy paper by the European Commission, adding that fully paid maternity leave would encourage people to have more babies.
Currently, the duration of maternity leave varies in European countries. Germany allows 14 weeks, while parents in new EU member states, such as the Czech Republic or Slovakia, enjoy a full half-year.
The European Commission - the EU's executive body - is now proposing to bring in a uniform 18 weeks' maternity leave among EU nations.
Under its plan, a mother would be obliged to take at least six weeks off work after childbirth, while the remaining entitlement would be available for use either before or after labour.
Additional leave would be granted in cases such as premature childbirth or children born with disabilities.
Mothers would also be guaranteed a return to 'the same job or an equivalent post'.
Furthermore, employers would be banned from dismissing new mothers for a year after the end of their maternity leave, and would be required to accommodate demands for flexible working hours.
Europe's problem is well-known. The EU population now stands at 495million and is projected to rise to more than 520million by 2035, before falling again to 505million by 2060. But these total figures hide a far more complex picture.
After years of being in decline, birth rates in Britain and France are once more approaching the ratio of two children per woman. A ratio of 2.1 children is needed for a country to replace its population.
Yet, nations which have historically been the most fertile, like Italy and Spain, have ratios hovering around the 1.3 mark.
One in five Italians today is over 65 years old. Italy has the highest proportion of old people in the world.
However, the birth rate situation in Germany is the worst: A full one-third of all women are childless, and deaths have outnumbered births for the last 30 years. Even during World War II, when Germans faced their worst economic conditions, birth rates were higher than today.
If such trends are not reversed, Europe's biggest nation will be overtaken by France and Britain by as early as the middle of this century, and nations with ageing populations will face bigger health-care bills.
However, it is unclear whether longer maternity leave would solve Europe's problem.
British mothers currently receive six months off work. While this sounds generous, only the first six weeks are on what can be regarded as full pay; the rest attracts a flat 'salary' of what equates to a mere $260 a week. In this respect, the Germans do better: They offer new mothers longer paid leave. Yet, Britain's birth rate is almost double Germany's.
�The British may be unique in Europe: Their higher reproduction figures are due mainly to a large influx of immigrants who, in turn, have higher fecundity.
The experience of France, which has also successfully reversed its previously low birth rates, may offer a better clue regarding what is required.
French mothers can take 16 weeks' paid maternity leave - hardly remarkable by European standards. But they enjoy something far more valuable: the most extensive state-funded childcare on the continent.
Infants are entitled to full-day creches, while for children aged two to three, there are preschool programmes which are almost free for needy families. So, mothers return to work earlier, but have longer-term childcare assistance.
Social scientist Steffen Krohnert, of Germany's Institute for Population and Development in Berlin, believes that this is where Germany fails. 'Whether it is childcare systems that don't leave parents out of pocket, or affordable kindergartens... we need to do a lot more than is being done,' he says.
Mr Vladimir Spidla, the top EU official responsible for social affairs, describes his maternity leave initiative as just a 'modest increase in current provisions'.�Besides, he argues, his proposals are not exclusive; they do not prevent countries from offering other incentives.
But he is likely to face resistance from European governments, which will be asked to approve the new proposals early next month. This is partly because quite a few European capitals resent the EU's interference in their internal affairs.
But there is also the fear that the debate may open up a wider dispute about childcare, which is expensive to set up and maintain. Given the current economic downturn, avoiding the subject appears a safer option - at least from the point of view of politicians seeking re-election.
