The watchdog has also been scolded by the court of audit.

The Commission heaps criticism on AKOS's regulation of the state-owned telco, designated as an operator with significant market power, as part of a 9 February decision for an "in-depth investigation" of AKOS's draft proposal for a new regulatory model.

The Commission believes a part of AKOS's remedial proposal, which includes an adjustment to the standard price control formula by adding a "size premium" meant to reflect the high risks associated with the small size of Telekom Slovenije, the telecoms incumbent, is not compliant with EU telecoms rules.

It moreover argues that other verification methods listed by AKOS are either not yet fully developed or vague.

The Commission says these uncertainties affect transparency and regulatory predictability for alternative operators and other market players, which may render their long-term investment plans more difficult.

AKOS is moreover exposed for having conducted its last analysis of the market for wholesale high-quality access in 2008, although such an analysis would be required every three years.

The agency told the newspaper Delo that an analysis had been conducted in 2012, but that the procedure had not been completed, since the European Commission started drafting new market monitoring rules.

It added that a new regulatory model was being drawn up and that the agency had made sure during all this time that alternative operators had access to Telekom Slovenije's network under regulated conditions.

Meanwhile, the watchdog has also received an adverse opinion from the Slovenian Court of Audit.

The court, which scrutinised the agency's operations in 2014 and 2015, announced today that the agency had failed to draw up a statement on a long-term development strategy and had proposed fees that were too high. The auditors also discovered several irregularities related to staffing.