Default Europe timezone set in php.ini, but date_default_timezone_get() returns 'UTC'

I've set in php.ini file the default timezone:

date.timezone = Europe/Rome

I've also restarted httpd service after the edit (service httpd restart), but when I call date_default_timezone_get(), it returns 'UTC' value.

Why this happens?

Also calling php_info() shows the timezone set in php.ini

PS. Sorry for my English.