Lange grew up and attended school in Varel. He studied Protestant theology and political sciences at the University of Göttingen, 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. From 1983 to 1994 Lange worked as a teacher at the High School 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. 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 Lower Saxony, Greater Poland, Upper Normandy and Andalusia.
Political career
Bernd Lange became a member of the Social Democratic Party 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. 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.
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. 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 procedures between the European Parliament and the European Council, in many of them as chief negotiator. Since his re-election in 2009, Lange has been a full member of the Committee on International Trade and a substitute member of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy. He is also a member of the Interparliamentary Delegation for relations with South Africa. In 2010 he became the European Parliament's rapporteur for European industrial policy. From February 2014 until June 2014 Lange was the spokesperson on International Trade for the Socialists and Democrats political group in the European Parliament. Since 2014 he has been the chairman of the committee. He was the rapporteur for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. In addition to his committee assignments, he serves as a member of the European Parliament Intergroup on Western Sahara. Following the 2019 elections, Lange was elected vice-chair of the S&D Group, under the leadership of chairwoman Iratxe García. He later resigned to resume his post as chair of the Committee on International Trade and was replaced by Ismail Ertug.
