Policy makers from the Dutch ministries of finance and economic affairs have been quick to blame the slow bureaucratic machinery in Brussels, but when Labour politician and former documentary maker Hillie Molenaar started asking questions in parliament, it transpired that the Dutch bureaucrats had not even sent off its proposal to the European Commission.

Now, the Dutch Film Fund has temporarily frozen its budget for projects that are being financed privately through the country's tax break scheme. Holland's film industry is anxiously awaiting European Commission approval for a new funding scheme to replace the old set-up, which became less attractive for investors after Holland's overall tax system changed earlier this year. Insecurity surrounding the nature of the new scheme has prompted the Dutch Film Fund to take action. It does not expect any news from the European Commission before September.

The fund has already allocated most of this year's budget of $3.3m (Euros3.95m) on 13 productions, eight of which were co-funded with private money and several of which are productions that were initiated abroad. The film board is now only accepting applications for script development and for the production of feature films which are not dependent on private investors. Funding already assigned to those eight projects has been frozen until the situation is clarified.

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