The EU standards on independence of national regulatory authorities (NRAs) expanded significantly over the past two decades, including the most recent legislative developments relating to competition authorities and regulators in the sectors of audiovisual media and electronic communications. They appear to gradually challenge the principle of administrative sovereignty enabling the Member States to shape their administrative structures autonomously. The major aim of this article is to investigate the concept of independence, established in various acts of the EU law with regard to NRAs. In particular, the main attributes of ‘EU-made national independent authorities’ are explored, as well as the limitations of their autonomy deemed legitimate under the EU legislation. [---]