(BRUSSELS) - The EU's top competition regulator ordered Italy on Thursday to recover "unlawful" state aid granted to the national postal service Poste Italiane, following a two-year investigation.

The regulator, the European Commission, claimed that the Italian treasury had favoured the post office since 2005 by paying too much interest on funds collected from the bank accounts of Poste Italiane customers.

"The commission's in-depth investigation, opened in September 2006, found that the interest rates from the Italian treasury unduly favoured Poste Italiane," a statement said.

"This unlawful aid is liable to give Poste Italiane an unfair advantage over its competitors on the liberalised postal and financial markets in Italy."

The commission did not indicate how much money would have to be collected from the postal service.

In April, the EU regulator cleared on 1.1 billion euros (1.7 billion dollars) in state aid for Poste Italiane, judging the post operator needed the support to meet its public service obligations.

It had received the money from 2006 to 2008 for providing public services such as delivering mail to far-flung places where a private operator would not do business.

Text and Picture Copyright 2008 AFP. All other Copyright 2008 EUbusiness Ltd. All rights reserved. This material is intended solely for personal use. Any other reproduction, publication or redistribution of this material without the written agreement of the copyright owner is strictly forbidden and any breach of copyright will be considered actionable.