) OF THE ALGEMENE WEDUWEN- EN WEZENWET ( GENERAL LAW ON PENSIONS FOR WIDOWS AND ORPHANS , HEREINAFTER REFERRED TO AS ' ' THE WIDOWS AND ORPHANS LAW ' ' ), SEEKS TO LIMIT THE OVERLAPPING OF BENEFITS GRANTED UNDER THE WIDOWS AND ORPHANS LAW WITH BENEFITS GRANTED UNDER THE SOCIAL LEGISLATION OF ANOTHER MEMBER STATE .
3 THE FILE SHOWS THAT MRS VAN DER BUNT-CRAIG , OF BRITISH NATIONALITY , LIVED IN THE UNITED KINGDOM FROM THE DATE OF HER BIRTH AND FOLLOWED A CAREER AS A NURSE . HER HUSBAND , MR VAN DER BUNT , OF NETHERLANDS NATIONALITY , WORKED IN THE UNITED KINGDOM FROM 1919 AND IN 1955 WAS GRANTED A RETIREMENT PENSION THERE . THE COUPLE LATER SETTLED IN THE NETHERLANDS . THERE , FROM 1961 , MR VAN DER BUNT WAS ALSO AWARDED A RETIREMENT PENSION PURSUANT TO THE ALGEMENE OUDERDOMSWET ( GENERAL LAW ON OLD-AGE PENSIONS , HEREINAFTER REFERRED TO AS ' ' THE OLD-AGE LAW ' ' ).
4 ON 4 FEBRUARY 1974 , MRS VAN DER BUNT-CRAIG , THEN AGED 60 , WAS GRANTED A UNITED KINGDOM RETIREMENT PENSION OF POUNDS 6 PER WEEK , AWARDED SOLELY BY REASON OF THE NATIONAL INSURANCE AND SOCIAL SECURITY CONTRIBUTIONS OF HER HUSBAND . AS A RESULT OF HIS DEATH IN THE NETHERLANDS ON 17 SEPTEMBER 1974 , THE AMOUNT OF MRS VAN DER BUNT-CRAIG ' S RETIREMENT PENSION , WHICH CONTINUED TO BE PAID ON THE BASIS OF MR VAN DER BUNT ' S CONTRIBUTIONS , WAS RECALCULATED AND , FROM 23 SEPTEMBER 1974 , WAS INCREASED FROM POUNDS 6 TO POUNDS 10 PER WEEK . ON 4 OCTOBER 1974 MRS VAN DER BUNT-CRAIG ASKED THE RAAD VAN ARBEID TO GRANT HER A WIDOW ' S PENSION UNDER THE WIDOWS AND ORPHANS LAW .
5 TAKING THE VIEW THAT THE RETIREMENT PENSION AWARDED TO MRS VAN DER BUNT-CRAIG BY REASON OF HER HUSBAND ' S INSURANCE AND SOCIAL SECURITY CONTRIBUTIONS WAS A SURVIVOR ' S PENSION , THE RAAD VAN ARBEID APPLIED THE PROVISIONS OF ARTICLE 1 ( 1 ) OF THE ROYAL DECREE OF 20 MARCH 1968 WHICH PROVIDES :
' ' IN THE EVENT OF A WIDOW ' S PENSION DUE UNDER THE WIDOWS AND ORPHANS LAW OVERLAPPING OVER THE SAME PERIOD WITH ONE OR MORE SURVIVOR ' S BENEFITS DUE UNDER THE SOCIAL LEGISLATION OF ONE OR MORE OTHER STATES , THE WIDOW ' S PENSION SHALL BE REDUCED BY SUCH AN AMOUNT AS IS COMMENSURATE WITH THE PROPORTION WHICH THE LENGTH OF COMPLETED PERIODS OF INSURANCE OR WORK OF THE PERSON WHOSE DEATH IS THE BASIS FOR ENTITLEMENT TO WIDOW ' S PENSION UNDER THE LEGISLATION OF THE OTHER STATE OR STATES BEARS TO THE LENGTH OF THE PERIOD BETWEEN THE DATE ON WHICH THE DECEASED REACHED 15 YEARS OF AGE AND THE DATE ON WHICH HE DIED . ' '
6 ON THE BASIS OF THOSE PROVISIONS THE RAAD VAN ARBEID , BY A DECISION OF 29 DECEMBER