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For five days, German and American lawmakers gathered in Berlin and Castle Elmau, Germany, to participate in the Congress-Bundestag Forum, where they renewed and deepened contacts with each other and discussed common transatlantic issues.   With the German government’s no-confidence vote on July 1 as political backdrop, 10 members of the German Bundestag and 6 bipartisan members of the U.S. Congress took part in the July 6-10 conference, organized by GMF with the Robert Bosch Foundation.   The Forum began in Berlin with a conversation with Wolfgang Schäuble, vice chairman of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU)/Christian Social Union (CSU) parliamentary faction and a noted expert of German conservative foreign policy. He made it clear that a future CDU-led government would seek more equidistance between France and America, but warned, “Don’t make us choose.” The members of Congress stressed their interest in a strong Europe as America’s partner. The next morning, Klaus Scharioth, a top career diplomat in the German Foreign Office, laid out German foreign policy priorities, emphasizing the country’s active role in nation-building in the Balkans and Afghanistan, and advocating for a German seat on the UN Security Council. Paul Nolte, professor of contemporary history at the Free University of Berlin, led the group in a discussion of moral issues in domestic policymaking.   After moving to Elmau, European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company (EADS) CEO Thomas Enders defended the case for aircraft subsidies in a keynote speech; he also emphasized that it no longer makes sense to think of Boeing and EADS as, respectively, American and European companies, because of the complexity of intra-industrial relationships. The next roundtable session, on moral issues in foreign policy, resulted in a spirited and wide-ranging debate. The American group, whose age and experience spread was quite broad, gave their mostly younger German counterparts a very good sense of how diverse attitudes and values can be even within the Republican and Democratic camps. Among the Germans, in contrast, opinions tended to vary by age group rather than political camp.   Three concurrent breakout sessions on Europe’s future (moderated by Frankfurter Rundschau journalist Rolf Paasch), Economics, Employment and Values (moderated by Wirtschaftswoche journalist Olaf Gersemann), and Immigration (moderated by GMF Transatlantic Fellow Michael Werz) ensued. Finally, proceedings wound up with a presentation by Bernd Stecher, Chief Economist of Siemens, who pleaded for constructive engagement with China.