In an ideal world, the issue of accessibility would become less of a concern

Mr Schammo, thank you for your time. For our readers who are not familiar with the Centre for Equal Treatment (CET), could you please briefly introduce your organisation to us?

The CET was established under the Act of 28 November 2006. The CET operates independently and is tasked with promoting, analysing and monitoring equal treatment for all, and with preventing discrimination on the grounds of ‘racial’ or ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation, religion or belief, disability or age.

The CET consists of a board of five members elected by Parliament. In our day-to-day work, we are currently supported by four full-time staff members. People who have experienced discrimination or have questions on the subject can contact us. The CET can then advise the person who contacts us or send out awareness-raising letters. However, at present, the CET cannot take binding measures to put an end to such discrimination, nor can it represent victims in court. This is expected to change soon with the implementation of new EU Directives (EU/2024/1499 and EU/2024/1500). These must be transposed into national law by 19 June 2026.

One of OSAPS’s missions is, after all, to ensure that discrimination caused by non-accessible products and services is prevented. What recurring barriers for people with disabilities does the CET encounter in its day-to-day work?

Without wishing to discuss specific cases: generally speaking, the CET is repeatedly confronted with the tension between the (perceived) costs and the (perceived) limited benefits of accessibility measures. Many people are aware that certain barriers exist, but fail to remove them because, in their view, a simple cost-benefit analysis does not add up.

The problems in question may involve solutions that are actually straightforward to implement, such as installing a ramp to make business premises accessible or ensuring the availability of parking spaces for people with disabilities. On the other hand, there are also more complex issues. These may relate to the technical accessibility of medical examinations or the legally permissible exclusion from insurance policies under certain circumstances. Other difficulties are often attributable to a lack of training for staff responsible for reception or care.

How do you envisage the collaboration between the CET and the OSAPS?

Good cooperation works best when all parties are aware of each other’s respective strengths and can thus fill any gaps in their own areas of expertise or action. Furthermore, regular dialogue on current issues is important in many respects. As the CET is responsible for several grounds of discrimination, dialogue with specialist bodies such as the OSAPS is particularly important. These bodies are able to devote themselves fully to this task, whilst broader-based bodies such as the CET can contribute expertise and knowledge from a wide range of subject areas.

Finally, what are your general hopes for the future when it comes to ‘accessibility’?

In an ideal world, the issue of accessibility would become less of a concern and Design for All would be an approach that is applied universally, without a second thought. Until that happens, the CET hopes that accessibility will gain wider acceptance, that people will stop using cost as an argument and pointing out that it is supposedly only a small minority who benefit from accessible products and services.

Thank you very much for this brief conversation.

CET contact details plus photo

• 65, route d’Arlon L-1140 Luxembourg
• Telephone: (+352) 28 37 36 35
• Email: info@cet.lu