EUobserver takes a deep dive into the workings and new chairs of every single European Parliament committee for the new 2024-2029 session, in a series of articles first published in our print magazine of October 2024
Now into his seventh term as an MEP, few EU lawmakers have the experience of German social democrat Bernd Lange. Lange, who has just started his third consecutive mandate as chair of the international trade committee, is the ideal point-man for parliament at a time of major turbulence facing the EU’s trade policy.
In particular, the EU’s trade dispute with China is preoccupying policy-minds across Europe.
After the EU imposed tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, accusing Beijing of illegally subsidising its industry, Beijing has hit back by opening trade probes into imports of EU dairy, pork and cognac.
“We of course also need to further develop our own course in the competition between China and the US,” says Lange, a reference not just to the EVs row but to the broader geopolitical battle for access to the critical minerals, such as cobalt, lithium and other metals, that the major economies need to drive their green industrial transitions.
In the last mandate, EU lawmakers approved the bloc’s Critical Raw Materials Act, and the commission has since brokered deals offering investment in exchange for access with the likes of DR Congo, Zambia, Namibia and Rwanda.
Lange expects the arguments between open markets and protectionism to be among the most divisive in parliament over the coming years.
“Another main challenge will be to make sure that we work on all three pillars of the economic security strategy and not only on the ‘protect’ pillar,” says Lange, adding that if tariff and other protective measures are needed “we have to do this on the basis of facts and not politics and we should always keep the potential reaction of our trading partners in mind.”
Any measures “should also be in line with WTO rules of course” — though he also notes that “it will be a challenge sticking to the multilateral rules when so many other trading partners are disregarding it.”
Access to raw materials is also reshaping relations between wealthy blocs such as the EU and the Global South, particularly African states, many of whom believe that their trade agreements with the EU are fundamentally unequal.
One of the demands from a growing number of African states – especially in the wake of the agreement of the African Continental Free Trade Area – is for trade deals with the EU to be revised to allow them to promote national and regional industrialisation. At present, the bulk of the continent’s exports to the EU are raw materials.
Lange says that one of his main priorities is to “conclude fair and broad partnerships with the Global South so that the EU remains a relevant partner for them.”
“Fair partnerships, especially with our partners in the Global South will be key,” he adds, urging EU policymakers to “think of a comprehensive strategy to have closer links with many trading partners around the world, especially also developing countries, as everyone is trying to find its way in the new context we are in.”
Global Gateway — an infrastructure investment programme that the EU Commission says is worth up to €300bn to developing countries — should be “one integral aspect of this comprehensive strategy,” says Lange.
He also wants his committee to be more involved in the design and implementation of the EU’s raw material partnerships.
“I hope that we will be able to conclude and ratify some additional trade agreements, Lange tells EUobserver, though he concedes that “we need to be aware that such agreements might not be enough or not feasible in the short run.”
The INTA coordinators are: Jörgen Warborn (EPP, Sweden), Brando Benifei (S&D, Italy), Thierry Mariani (PfE, France), Daniele Polato (ECR, Italy), Marie-Pierre Vedrenne (Renew, France), Majdouline Sbai (Greens, France), Lynn Boylan (Left, Ireland) and Markus Buchheit (ESN, Germany).
Benjamin Fox is a seasoned reporter and editor, previously working for fellow Brussels publication Euractiv. His reporting has also been published in the Guardian, the East African, Euractiv, Private Eye and Africa Confidential, among others. He heads up the AU-EU section at EUobserver, based in Nairobi, Kenya.
Benjamin Fox is a seasoned reporter and editor, previously working for fellow Brussels publication Euractiv. His reporting has also been published in the Guardian, the East African, Euractiv, Private Eye and Africa Confidential, among others. He heads up the AU-EU section at EUobserver, based in Nairobi, Kenya.