He failed: the popular magistrates threatened to resign, the public protested, the decree was withdrawn, and Berlusconi's then high ratings started their current nosedive. But recently the appeals court ruled that the all-important Milan magistrates should lose their powers to investigate the scores of tax policemen (see Y) accused of greasing the sleaze system's wheels, helping Berlusconi's Fininvest among others. This contributed to the re signation of Antonio Di Pietro a few days later. The tax policemen's trial switches to Brescia instead, where there are fewer investigative staff. Seeking to get trials moved is a common defence tactic in Italy. Meanwhile, Berlusconi's dogfight with the magistrates continues: after his eight-hour interrogation on charges of bribery in Milan last month, he went on television claiming a judicial "coup d'etat". But the same day all 20 officials investigating the magistrates' alleged misuse of power resigne d, citing unbearable public hostility to their inquiries.

is for Mr Naegels, the Belgian police officer who showed his feelings over alleged corruption in the paramilitary state police by dumping a load of rotten apples outside the house belonging to the chief of Belgium's gendarmerie. Also for Erik Ninn-Hansen, the former Danish justice minister facing impeachment for his part in the Tamilgate refugee scandal that brought down Conservative PM Poul Schueter in 1993 is for olive oil, favoured for slick agricultural scams. A recent report disclosed that more than 90 per cent of the oil in storage in Europe was of a lower quality than registered, a fiddle worth over £25m. In another slippery affair, the Spanish press alleged that the corrupt Italian tycoon Raul Gardini (see S) made payments to Spanish politicians to ease his way into buying a controlling stake in the Spanish olive oil giant Elosua. is for priest - Irish Catholic Father Brendan Smyth, whose conviction for sexual offences against children helped start the slow and tortuous collapse of Albert Reynolds's government (see G), culminating in his resignation last November. Smyth had a history of abuse going back to the Fifties, but his offences had been hidden from the law by the church, until he was convicted and jailed in Northern Ireland last summer.

Then it was revealed that Ulster's request for his extradition had been allowed to liearound in the Irish attorney-general's office for seven months. Nevertheless, Reynolds decided to force through a promotion of the attorney-general responsible, Harry Whelehan This led, eventually, to the collapse of the government. is inevitably for EC quotas: fought over, established and ignored. The milk quota, for example, which was set up to flatten the butter mountain. Member states exceeding it were supposed to pay a punitive "superlevy", but from 1989 to 1993 Italy overproduced by 2 million tonnes, as its government made no attempt to implement the rules, and EC taxpayers paid the fines - only for the excess to be dumped on the world market and given EC export refunds.

Fishing quotas are also easily evaded: in 1993 Spanish fishermen built concealed holds to hide huge illegal catches of fish from English and Irish waters, allegedly using EC grants is for Luis Roldan, Spain's most wanted man. Head of the Guardia Civil from 1986 to 1993, he was accused in November 1993 of taking £2.5m in bribes for awarding construction contracts while in office, but slipped his police guards this April. Like Craxi (see C), he has threatened to blow the lid off dirty dealings elsewhere in the government. In a letter to Felipe Gonzalez, Roldan claimed to know of a slush fund paying "parallel salaries" to government officials - and said he himself had officially usedgovernment "reserve funds".