May 8th, 2019, 14:00 hr., in MRU's I-414 aud., Mykolas Romeris University (MRU) International and EU Law Institute PhD student Gediminas Valantiejus will defend his dissertation, "Peculiarities of Legal Regulation of Customs Duties in International Trade Between the European Union and the People's Republic of China, the Russian Federation and the Republic of India."

The PhD dissertation deals with the legal regulation of customs duties (tariffs) as the main instrument of regulating international trade in the EU and the peculiarities of its application towards the third countries of the BRICS region, as the leading international trade partners of the EU.

In this context, the thematic analysis method is used and investigates the emerging practice of international dispute settlement bodies: (WTO), the Court of Justice of the EU and national courts (Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania) in the legal disputes concerning the application of customs duties towards these countries.

Based on this analysis, problems of legal regulation of customs duties are examined and also other related import taxes arising, both at the international/multilateral level, the supranational level as well as at the national level. It suggests solutions relevant to the EU and its Member States (the Republic of Lithuania).

By formulating these proposals, the author takes into account the necessity (which was evidenced by the study data), to eliminate the identified gaps and uncertainties of EU customs law, as well as to ensure the compliance of national practices and legal regulations with the provisions of the EU customs policy.