The pamphlet quotes UK government data stating that half of all UK legislation which puts burdens on businesses originates from the EU. 

"From the business point of view, there is hardly any important policy area outside the control of Brussels," says Sir Digby, adding that in order to benefit from its EU membership Britain should aim for a "powerful presence at the European table".

At the same time, Sir Digby complains about European matters not being a major priority for UK members of parliament. 

The UK parliament has a dedicated committee in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords to sift through the documents received from the EU institutions. Sir Digby commends the work of the two committees under the current circumstances but says there is plenty of room for improvement.

It is too late to scrutinise a policy document when it has already been issued, Sir Digby says. Parliament should get involved in policy formulating much earlier, even while the Commission is still working on a proposal. In addition, more of the committee meetings should be held in public, he argues, as part of an effort to diminish public apathy to all matters European. Moreover, he complains that the agendas are neither detailed enough nor released early enough. Public access to scrutiny documents is limited and specific interest groups are not informed when an issue relevant to them is going to be debated. 

In Sir Digby's view, there are four principles which must be respected in order to achieve an effective scrutiny of EU proposals.

Firstly, it should begin early, that is, it should begin even before the drafting stage. Sir Digby is critical of the current system which depends heavily on documents sent through by the EU institutions. Naturally, information gathering would require a greater presence in Brussels and generally a wider network of contacts across the EU.

Secondly, he argues that similarly to the House of Lords, the UK's House of Commons should also consult with outside interest groups. 

Thirdly, Sir Digby would make the scrutiny system accessible and transparent  and would open a vast majority of meetings to the public. 

Fourthly, he says that the scrutiny must be "joined up". In his view, the members of the UK Parliament should speak more to the members of the European Parliament, as well as to officials and civil servants in both London and Brussels. On policy, he would do away with the artificial separation of domestic and EU-based legislation in parliamentary scrutiny.

"It is a mistake to think that all EU policies and directives emanate from Brussels or Strasbourg," explains UK Minister of State for Europe Denis MacShane in his preface to the pamphlet. Instead, the policy process begins in national capitals to end up in the Commission and the European Parliament, he adds. Therefore, UK MPs should "start networking in Europe". 

Mr MacShane refers to Jack Straw's invitation to EU commissioners to appear before the House of Commons but he also encourages UK politicians to travel more on the continent. 

"Alongside [...] structural changes, we need to look at procedures, and ways in which Parliament could devote more time to debating EU issues, and bringing them alive to the public," he argues, in order to address an electorate that currently knows "too little and cares less".