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Every year since 2001, the German Marshall Fund together with the Bertelsmann Foundation has convened the Transatlantic Conference for Young Leaders on the shores of Lake Como in Tremezzo, Italy. The annual event brings together roughly 30 promising European and American leaders under 40 years of age to discuss and debate the challenges facing the Euro–Atlantic community. Participants come from a variety of professional backgrounds — including government, business, the media, and the think tank and NGO community — and develop lasting professional and personal connections on both sides of the Atlantic.

GMF and Bertelsmann held this year’s Tremezzo conference, titled "Moving Ahead: Defining the Transatlantic Project," on June 22–24, 2005. The conference took place in the aftermath of the failed French and Dutch referenda on the EU Constitution and focused on the uncertain future of Europe and implications for the wider transatlantic relationship. Sessions addressed a number of pressing issues on the transatlantic agenda including: the role of American and European foreign direct investments and the rise of China; cooperation in promoting security and democracy in the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Middle East; and the future of NATO and the EU. A particularly lively session centered on new trends in journalism, especially the role web logs play in the U.S. media and political landscape.

The three days of discussion and debate showed that while points of contention across the Atlantic remain, the next generation of transatlantic leaders looks forward with pragmatic optimism. And with the Tremezzo gathering in its fifth year, nearly half of the participants were alumni from previous conferences and thus helped to forge a tight network among the group.