As I understand it, the EU Parliament engages through the trilogues. Once agreement has been reached there, final approval is indeed more of a rubberstamp. (But: I'm just somewhat interested in the subject; I'm not an expert on the process.)
How the democratic process actually works is important. Public outcry often happens after something becomes LOCAL law (i.e. a few years or months down the road) implemented in a member state. The usual defense from EU-enthusiasts is then “you should have engaged in public debate, it’s too late now”. That should tell you something about the visibility and publicity of the process.