To evaluate any theory or paradigm of integration it is first necessary to undertake the (not insubstantial) task of defining what is meant by integration (Eilstrup-Sangiovanni 2006: 7). Some definitions of the content of integration include political, economic and sociological aspects, whilst others identify the process of integration as taking place at a number of nested levels (Sweet & Sandholtz 2003: 220). A coherent and certain picture of the content and processes of European integration can therefore only be built by combining the knowledge and understanding of integration scholars. Puchala uses the metaphor of blind men who touch different parts of an elephant and, each from his own rudimentary and limited observations, extrapolates a definition of the nature of the beast which is very different to the others’. Failure to piece together their knowledge negates the men’s ability to come up with a more accurate picture of the true nature of an elephant (Puchala 1971: 268). To understand or conceptualise the beast of European integration, no one grand theory of integration is sufficient. Thus the plausibility of federalist accounts in depicting the reality of the processes, content and trajectory of European integration are limited by their one-dimensional focus on formal political and institutional integration.