Belgium

Talk to your MEPs

The EU writes its AI rules in Brussels. Members of the European Parliament listen to the people who elect them, and a short personal email is enough to start.

Belgium elects 22 of the 720 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs). They vote on EU AI law, question the European Commission, and can push the EU to lead an international agreement. Hearing from voters is how they learn that this matters.

What we ask MEPs

Our message stays the same from one email to the next, and fits in four sentences:

  1. Nobel Prize winners, leading AI scientists and the heads of the main AI companies have said that reducing the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority.
  2. Specialised AI, in science, energy and health, can strengthen Europe. Superintelligent AI that escapes human control would threaten the security of the Union.
  3. The EU can keep the benefits and reduce the risks by fully enforcing the AI Act on the most powerful systems, and by giving the AI Office real powers to verify what the companies do.
  4. The EU should lead an international initiative to prohibit the development of superintelligence until there is scientific consensus that it can be done safely and controllably.

The simplest concrete step we ask of an MEP is to sign the Statement on Superintelligence, which a few sitting MEPs have already signed.

A volunteer holds a purple sign reading “60,000 Europeans say AI should serve us, not tech billionaires”. With WeMove Europe, 60,000 Europeans say AI should serve us, not tech billionaires.

How to write to your MEP

  1. Find your MEPs on the European Parliament website. Choose one or two whose committees or past positions make them likely to listen.
  2. Write in your own words and your own language, French, Dutch, German or English. A personal email from a voter carries far more weight than a copied template.
  3. Keep it short. Say who you are and where you live, why you care, and one clear ask. Link to a source instead of pasting long arguments.
  4. Speak their language. An MEP who works on security, the economy or workers’ rights hears this best through that lens: the security of the Union, Europe’s independence from a handful of foreign companies, or jobs.
  5. Follow up. Replies often come after the second or third message. Stay polite and patient.
  6. Tell us. Forward the reply to alexandre@pauseai.info. Knowing who answered, and how, lets us follow up together instead of sending the same MEP five unrelated emails.

Join the MEP working group

A few of us coordinate this work: we track which MEPs have been contacted, prepare short briefings, follow the AI Act and the AI Office, and plan meetings. We learn from campaigns that have already done this with the British and Canadian parliaments.

No experience in politics is needed. If you can write a clear email, read a policy document, or know someone working in the Parliament, you can help.

Write to alexandre@pauseai.info and sign up as a PauseAI member, choosing Belgium. We will onboard you on a call and introduce you to the group.