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. 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. 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. 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.
In 2010 Lange became the European Parliament's rapporteur 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 rapporteur for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (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. He later resigned to resume his post as chair of the Committee on International Trade and was replaced by Ismail Ertug.
