Bernd Lange (born 14 November 1955) is a German politician who has been serving as a member of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

from

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. He is a member of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

, part of the

Party of European Socialists The Party of European Socialists (PES) is a social democratic and progressive European political party. The PES comprises national-level political parties from all member states of the European Union (EU) plus Norway and the United Kingdom ...

. Lange was a member of the

from 1994 to 2004. Since July 2009 he is again member of the European Parliament within the

Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) is the political group in the European Parliament of the Party of European Socialists (PES). The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats was officially founded as a Socialist ...

in the European Parliament. Since 2014, Lange is chairman of the

INTA Inta (russian: Инта́, kv, Инта) is a town in the Komi Republic, Russia. Population: History Inta was founded circa 1940 as a settlement to support a geological expedition to explore coal deposits and projecting of mines. The city's n ...

committee (International Trade) and rapporteur for

TTIP The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) was a proposed trade agreement between the European Union and the United States, with the aim of promoting trade and multilateral economic growth. According to Karel de Gucht, European ...

(Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership)

Early life and career

Lange grew up and attended school in

Varel Varel () is a town in the district of Friesland, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated near the Jade River and the Jade Bight, approximately south of Wilhelmshaven and north of Oldenburg. With a population of 23,984 (2020) it is the biggest ...

. He studied Protestant theology and political sciences at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...

, where he earned a degree in theology as well as a High School teacher certificate. In Göttingen, he joined the trade-union movement, establishing contacts with students not just in western Europe but also in communist

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

. From 1983 to 1994 Lange worked as a teacher at the High School ( Gymnasium) in Burgdorf. Between 2004 and 2009 he worked as the head of the department for "Economy, Environment and Europe"-department at the German Trade Union Federation, the DGB, in

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

. In this position he was particularly responsible for economic and EU structural policies, the implementation of the EU structural funds and the establishment of a regional Trade Union network with other Trade Unions and partner regions of

, Greater Poland, Upper Normandy and Andalusia.

Political career

Bernd Lange became a member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in 1974 when he was a High School student. From 1983 to 1984 he was a member of the district board of the Young Socialists of the SPD in Hanover. Since 1986 he is a member of the sub-district board of the SPD of Hanover (region of Hanover). From 1992 to 2013 he was the chairman of the SPD Burgdorf. He was co-founder of the science forum of the region of Hanover and is a member of the "Church and SPD" in the district of Hanover.

Member of the European Parliament, 1994-present

When Lange entered the European Parliament in the 1994 European elections, he was a member of the Environment Committee and a substitute member of the

Committee on Industry, Research and Energy The Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) is a committee of the European Parliament. Its areas of responsibility relate to industry, especially technology-intensive manufacturing, information technology, and telecommunications. It also ...

. During this time he was significantly involved in industrial, environmental and research policies as well as climate protection and the future of the automotive economy. He was involved in over 30

conciliation committee A formal trilogue meeting, more commonly known as a trilogue, is a type of meeting used in the European Union (EU) legislative process. It takes its name from a literary form, the trilogue, which means a conversation with three parties. Trilogue ...

procedures between the European Parliament and the European Council, in many of them as chief negotiator. Since his re-election in

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, Lange has been a full member of the

Committee on International Trade The Committee on International Trade (INTA) is a committee of the European Parliament. Its current chair, elected on 10 July 2019, is Bernd Lange. From 2014 he chaired the Committee on International Trade. In addition to his committee assignments, Lange is a member of the Interparliamentary Delegation for relations with

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. He also serves as a member of the European Parliament Intergroup on Anti-Racism and Diversity, the European Parliament Intergroup on Trade Unions and the European Parliament Intergroup on

Western Sahara Western Sahara ( '; ; ) is a disputed territory on the northwest coast and in the Maghreb region of North and West Africa. About 20% of the territory is controlled by the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), while the r ...

. In 2010 Lange became the European Parliament's

rapporteur A rapporteur is a person who is appointed by an organization to report on the proceedings of its meetings. The term is a French-derived word. For example, Dick Marty was appointed ''rapporteur'' by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Euro ...

for European industrial policy. From February 2014 until June 2014 he was the spokesperson on International Trade for the Socialists and Democrats political group in the European Parliament. He was the

for the

Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) was a proposed trade agreement between the European Union and the United States, with the aim of promoting trade and multilateral economic growth. According to Karel de Gucht, European ...

(TTIP). Following the 2019 elections, Lange was part of a cross-party working group in charge of drafting the European Parliament's five-year work program on foreign policy. Shortly after, Lange was elected vice-chair of the S&D Group, under the leadership of chairwoman

Iratxe García Iratxe García Pérez (; born 7 October 1974) is a Spanish politician of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). She has served as Member of the European Parliament since 2004, and has served as the Leader of the Progressive Alliance of Soc ...

. He later resigned to resume his post as chair of the Committee on International Trade and was replaced by Ismail Ertug.

Other activities

Corporate boards

Salzgitter AG Salzgitter AG is a German company, one of the largest steel producers in Europe with an annual output of around seven million tonnes. With over 100 subsidiaries and associated companies, the Group is structured in five divisions – Steel, Tr ...

, Member of the Supervisory Board (1999-2005) * Peiner Träger GmbH, Former Member of the Supervisory Board (until 2016)

Non-profit organizations

* Business Forum of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, Member of the Political Advisory Board (since 2018) * Deutsche Umweltstiftung, Member of the Advisory BoardBoard
Deutsche Umweltstiftung. *

IG Metall IG Metall (; IGM; German: ''Industriegewerkschaft Metall'', "Industrial Union of Metalworkers'") is the dominant metalworkers' union in Germany, making it the country's largest union as well as Europe's largest industrial union. Analysts of Ger ...

, Member *

German Life Saving Association The German Life Saving Association (german: Deutsche Lebens-Rettungs-Gesellschaft or DLRG) is a relief organization for life saving in Germany. The DLRG is the largest voluntary lifesaving organization in the world. With around 560,000 membe ...

(DLRG), Member

Recognition

Lange was awarded the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

. In November 2011 he was awarded the MEP Award by The Parliament Magazine in the category "Trade". He was awarded the Fair Politician Award of the Year award 2012/2013 (Max van der Stoel Foundation).

Personal life

Lange is married and has one daughter and an adult adopted son. He lives in Burgdorf, Germany.

Sources

External links

Website
* Bernd Lange'
profil
on Facebook
Biography at the EP
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lange, Bernd Living people 1955 births Social Democratic Party of Germany MEPs MEPs for Germany 1994–1999 MEPs for Germany 1999–2004 MEPs for Germany 2009–2014 MEPs for Germany 2014–2019 MEPs for Germany 2019–2024 Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany People from Varel University of Göttingen alumni German trade unionists