David Cameron faced pressure to hand 16 and 17-year-olds a referendum vote as he began in earnest a push to secure sufficient change to Britain's relations with Brussels to persuade voters to back continued EU membership.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker arrives in the UK this evening for initial talks over Mr Cameron's broad aims for reform - ahead of a whirlwind tour by the PM of European capitals.

But the announcement that the in/out vote - promised by the end of 2017 - would be run using the same franchise as for general elections provoked a mixed response.

The effective exclusion of most UK-resident EU citizens from the decision was broadly welcomed but there was condemnation of the failure to follow Scotland's much-applauded independence referendum move to allow votes at 16.

Labour said it was a "matter of principle" that those old enough to pay tax, marry and join the armed forces should not be voiceless in such an important national decision and said it would table an amendment to extend the franchise.

Questions were also raised over why expats who have lived abroad for more than 15 years would not be given a say, despite the Conservative manifesto promising to axe the time limit in favour of "votes for life".

An EU Referendum Bill, to be introduced to Parliament on Thursday, the day after the Queen's Speech, will make clear that the franchise will be based on that for a general election, plus members of the House of Lords and Commonwealth citizens in Gibraltar.

Irish, Maltese and Cypriots resident in the UK will get a vote, but other EU citizens will not.

Eurosceptics had claimed that as many as 1.5 million people from other EU countries could have been allowed to vote in the plebiscite if it had taken place under the rules for local government elections, in which citizens of other member states can participate.

Details were revealed as Mr Cameron prepared to welcome Mr Juncker - whose election to the EU's top job last year he publicly fought - to his official country residence Chequers.

On Thursday Mr Cameron will fly to Denmark for a working breakfast with his counterpart Helle Thorning-Schmidt, going on to the Netherlands to meet Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte before ending the day with talks over dinner at the Elysee Palace with French president Francois Hollande.

On Friday, the Prime Minister will travel to Warsaw for discussions with prime minister Ewa Kopacz in Warsaw before concluding the trip in Berlin where he will hold talks with chancellor Angela Merkel.

The Prime Minister hopes to talk to all other 27 leaders of EU member states individually before the European Council summit at the end of next month.

A source said: "It is an opportunity for the PM to underline why he is doing this and the views of Britain about the EU, the case for renegotiation and not sticking with the status quo."

The talks are expected to touch on the broad areas where the Prime Minister thinks change is needed and "there will be some discussions about how we taken them forward", the source said, although the meeting is not expected to go into great depth about the reforms.

Shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn said it was "a matter of principle" that 16 and 17-year-olds should be allowed to take part and confirmed that Labour - which has dropped its opposition to a referendum - would seek to amend the Bill.

"If a person aged 16 or 17 is old enough to work, to pay taxes, to marry, to join the armed forces, why should they not be able to participate in our democracy?" he asked on BBC Radio 4's The World at One.

"The younger generation, in my experience, is just as interested in the state of the world and the future of the country and this important decision."

The move is backed by the SNP and other opposition parties and former Tory MP Laura Sandys, who chairs the European Movement, said excluding 16 and 17-year-olds "will make young people feel less engaged but also feel that this particular decision about their future is being taken away from them".

But Eurosceptic Conservative MP John Redwood said it was a "myth" that young people were interested in the issue and accused pro-Europeans of seeking to "hijack" the referendum to bring in voting reforms they thought would help their cause.

"I did meetings in schools before the general election. No one who was 16 or 17 at those meetings was saying that they specifically wanted to have a vote on the EU issue, because they weren't really interested in the EU issue. This is another myth put around by the pro-Europeans."

He defended the decision not to guarantee voting laws would be changed in time to ensure all British citizens living abroad would get to vote.

"We can have a serious debate over a longer timeframe about who should vote at the next general election. This is a separate big issue ... and I think it is quite wrong to try and hijack this very important referendum about the future of the country."

Tory former Cabinet minister Owen Paterson, a prominent Eurosceptic, issued a sharp warning to establishment figures not to "mislead" the public over the consequences of leaving the EU.

He took particular aim at Britain's commissioner in Brussels Lord Hill who said at the weekend that the case for the UK remaining a member was "extraordinarily strong" and warned Eurosceptics "you can't have your cake and eat it", with the trade and business benefits only available within the EU.

"Now he is a member of the European establishment, a Commissioner, I think all members of the establishment have got to be careful not to mislead the British people," he said.

"We are seeing, increasingly, a misleading narrative going out that it is the EU that delivers the three million jobs which are being talked about, delivers prosperity. The EU is not synonymous with the market. It is the market that delivers the jobs and prosperity."