Bernd Lange (born 14 November 1955) is a German politician and member of the European Parliament from Germany. He is a member of the Social Democratic Party, part of the Party of European Socialists. He was a member of the European Parliament from 1994 to 2004. Since July 2009 he is again member of the European Parliament within the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament. Since 2014, Bernd Lange is chairman of the INTA committee (International Trade) and rapporteur for TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership) Early life and career 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 (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. 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 (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. 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.