Brussels, 21/02/2013 (Agence Europe) - On 21 February, the European Commission sent Italy a reasoned opinion (second stage in infringement proceedings), expressing its fears concerning the independence of the national regulatory authority (NRA), AGCOM. The Commission has examined the Italian legislation which imposes unbundling of ancillary services, such as maintenance and activation of lines, from the wholesale local loop unbundling provided by the incumbent operator, Telecom Italia. In an attempt to directly regulate such ancillary services, a recent Italian law has practically cancelled AGCOM's discretionary power. This situation runs counter to European rules stipulating that the NRA should exercise its ex ante regulatory competences in an independent manner, in order to ensure that the measure adopted is appropriate to the competitive problems reported in the market analysis. Italy has two months in which to give a response to the Commission, failing which the Commission may decide to refer Italy to the EU Court of Justice. (IL/transl.jl)