David Cameron is setting out a promise to hold an in/out referendum if the Conservatives win the next election in a long-awaited speech on the EU.
The prime minister will say he wants to renegotiate the UK's relationship with the EU, before asking people to vote.
The British people can decide either to accept the result of the talks, or to leave the EU, Mr Cameron will say.
Labour's Ed Miliband said the speech showed the PM was "weak" and "driven by his party", not the national interest.
The referendum is thought likely to take place during the early part of the next parliament - by the end of 2017 at the latest - if the Conservatives win the next general election.
The speech had been scheduled for last Friday in the Netherlands, but was postponed because of the Algerian hostage crisis.
'Very simple choice'The Conservative leader has been under pressure from many of his MPs to give a binding commitment to a vote on Europe.
Mr Cameron will say that "disillusionment" with the EU is "at an all time high" and "simply asking the British people to carry on accepting a European settlement over which they have had little choice" is likely to accelerate calls for the UK to leave.
"That is why I am in favour of a referendum," he will say. "I believe in confronting this issue - shaping it, leading the debate. Not simply hoping a difficult situation will go away.
Setting out the conditions for a future referendum, he will say: "The next Conservative manifesto in 2015 will ask for a mandate from the British people for a Conservative government to negotiate a new settlement with our European partners in the next parliament.
End QuoteDavid Cameron's biggest claim will be that a referendum will settle the European issue once and for all."
"And when we have negotiated that new settlement, we will give the British people a referendum with a very simple in or out choice to stay in the EU on these new terms; or come out altogether. It will be an in-out referendum.
But he will say that holding an in/out referendum now would be a "false choice" because Europe is set to change following the eurozone crisis.
"Now - while the EU is in flux, and when we don't know what the future holds and what sort of EU will emerge from this crisis is not the right time to make such a momentous decision about the future of our country.
"It is wrong to ask people whether to stay or go before we have had a chance to put the relationship right."
The speech, taking place in central London, will be watched closely by other European leaders, the business community and supporters and critics within his own party.
Several Conservative MPs - who want a looser relationship with the EU focused around trade and who have been briefed about the speech - say they are "satisfied" with the thrust of what Mr Cameron is going to say.
But some europhile Conservatives, including Lord Heseltine, have warned that committing to a referendum at some point in the future on the outcome of an uncertain negotiating process is an "unnecessary gamble".
'Years of uncertainty'The Lib Dems say pursuing a wholesale renegotiation of the UK's membership will cause uncertainty and deter foreign investment while Labour claim Mr Cameron's approach is being driven by party calculations rather than the national interest.
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Fmr Belgian PM Guy Verhofstadt: 'Individual re-negotiation of the British position is impossible'
Labour leader Ed Miliband said the speech would define Mr Cameron "as a weak prime minister, being driven by his party, not by the national economic interest".
"In October 2011, he opposed committing to an in/out referendum because of the uncertainty it would create for the country," he said.
"The only thing that has changed since then is he has lost control of his party and is too weak to do what is right for the country,
"Everyone knows that the priority for Britain is the jobs and growth that we need. We have had warning after warning from British business about the dangers of creating years of uncertainty for Britain.
"Britain needs a prime minister who is making change happen now in Europe, ensuring that we put jobs and growth ahead of austerity and unemployment."
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