A future Labour government would not call an in/out referendum on the UK's membership of the EU unless it was being asked to transfer more powers to Brussels, Ed Miliband has said.
In an article for the Financial Times, the Labour leader said his party "strongly believes Britain's future is in the EU".
He also criticised the Conservatives' "damaging obsession" with EU policy.
But Prime Minister David Cameron said only his party will "guarantee" a vote.
"By his own admission, Ed Miliband says it's unlikely there'll be an in/out referendum on Europe under Labour," the prime minister posted on Twitter.
How EU referendum policies compare
- UKIP: An immediate referendum on whether the UK should be in or out of the European Union
- Conservatives: Renegotiate terms of UK membership with referendum on whether the UK should be in or out of the EU in 2017
- Labour: A referendum on whether the UK should be in or out of the EU only if there is a proposed transfer of more powers from London to Brussels
- Lib Dems: A referendum will be needed to approve any further "significant" transfer of powers from London to Brussels
Mr Miliband is expected to unveil more details in a speech on Wednesday.
Shadow Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander told the BBC that Labour's position was a "guarantee of a referendum in certain circumstances" rather than on the "arbitrary timetable" set out by the Conservatives.
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While it was "unlikely" that a future Labour government would agree to transfer powers to Brussels during the next Parliament, it was not "impossible" given the uncertainty over the future direction of the eurozone.
BBC political editor Nick Robinson said Mr Miliband's policy was essentially a "compromise" between those in the party who did not want a future government to be "distracted" by the issue of Europe and those who argue that Labour cannot be seen as a "party of elites" setting their face against a vote on the issue in any circumstances.
Labour has previously backed holding a referendum if it is proposed that further powers are transferred to Brussels.
But the Labour leader has now clarified that this would be an in/out referendum.
'Hugely excited'"This would not just be a referendum on the narrow question of whether to allow a transfer of powers from Britain to Brussels; as we have seen in other countries, such votes are too easily ignored," he wrote.
"Start Quote
End QuoteThis is a promise of reform and a referendum but not, as they used to say in Star Trek, 'as we know it'"
He also criticised Mr Cameron's promise of an in/out referendum in 2017, which he described as an "arbitrary timetable" ensuring that "a Conservative government would be dominated by an all-consuming and damaging obsession within his party about whether Britain should leave the EU".
Mr Miliband argued that reforms were required in the EU, including:
- completing the single market in energy, services and the digital economy
- lengthening the transitional period during which restrictions can be curbed on immigration from new member states
- making it easier to deport recent immigrants who have broken the law
But these reforms could be achieved without a new treaty, he argued.
The pro-European Labour peer and former cabinet minister Peter Mandelson, who is also a former European commissioner, said there was "strong potential consensus" across the EU for the sort of reforms Mr Miliband was proposing.
He said there would be an alliance to be made with other member states and strong potential for the Labour leader to argue and win his case on the reforms.
He told Radio 4's Today programme that Mr Miliband was neither ruling out a referendum nor "making an arbitrary commitment" to holding one, which he believed was the right position.
"Don't have a referendum just for the sake of having one," Lord Mandelson added.
"It would bring huge damage, a risk to investment and to our economy."
But Labour MP Keith Vaz said: "I'm very happy. It's hugely exciting because this is the first time a Labour leader has said the words 'in/out referendum'.
"They're only a few words but they're very important.
"There's such a move towards federalism within the EU that it's inevitable there will be some kind of transfer of power which means this referendum will happen, even if Ed Miliband seems to think it's unlikely at the moment."
Former Labour Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Mr Miliband was right "that the priority of the next Labour government should not be an all-consuming debate about leaving the EU".
He added: "But Ed Miliband is also right that in the event of a transfer of powers from Britain to Brussels we should give the people a vote in an in/out referendum.
"This offers reassurance not only to business and millions of workers whose jobs depend on Europe but also allays the fears of those who are uncomfortable with moves towards ever-closer union."
The coalition has already enshrined in law a so-called referendum lock, promising a vote on whether to transfer further powers to Brussels if the situation arises - but not on whether to leave the EU.
Conservative attempts to legislate for an in/out referendum in 2017 have been thwarted by the Liberal Democrats, which party leader and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg describes as "Britain's only party of in".
In January 2013, Mr Cameron pledged that a future Conservative majority government would renegotiate the UK's relationship with the EU and then give British people the "simple choice" between staying in under those new terms, or leaving the EU.
UKIP leader Nigel Farage last week reiterated his party's belief that "the majority of British people who want our relationship with Europe to be one of trade and co-operation but not one of political union".
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