The author analyzes various approaches to the study of European integration, referring to a number of recently published works on European integration and, in particular, to a unique textbook (Evropeiskaya integratsiya: uchebnik dlya vuzov. Pod red. O.V. Butorinoi, N.Yu. Kaveshnikova [European Integration: Textbook. Ed. by O.V. Butorina, N.Yu. Kaveshnikov]. Moscow: Aspekt Press. 2016. 736 p. (In Russ.)). The author compares the models of analysis in this book with the analytical models of European integration used in modern European studies. One of the key problems of contemporary political science is the absence of a “grand theory” of European integration. This problem could be solved by applying various middle-level theories to different dimensions of European integration. The author believes that the question of how to study European integration is far from rhetorical, especially in the light of such factors as the growing complexity of the processes within the EU, its unprecedented crisis, as well as aggravation of ideological and political tensions, including in relations between Russia and the EU. The book “European Integration” edited by Olga Butorina and Nikolai Kaveshnikov is analyzed both in the context of theoretical issues of EU development and its specific activities, as well as through the prism of European integration studies in Europe and Russia.