French PM frustrated by EU rejection of oil plan

TALLIN (Reuters) - French Prime Minister Francois Fillon accused Brussels bureaucrats of not listening to national governments on Friday, just a month before France assumes the European Union presidency.

In a rare public sign of frustration with the EU executive, Fillon said the European Commission should have paid more attention to a French idea to cap taxes on oil to help offset soaring prices.

"We don't much like it when people say "no" to us without even talking about the questions that have been raised," Fillon told a news conference during a visit to Estonia.

"Europe has to understand that proposals put forward by one or other (of its members) have to be discussed before getting rejected," he added, standing alongside his Estonian counterpart Andrus Ansip.

Earlier this week, French President Nicolas Sarkozy suggested that the European Union should consider capping sales taxes on fuel products if oil prices rose further, to help consumers and companies struggling with the high energy costs.

Within hours, the Commission said it would send the wrong message to oil producers and encourage them to raise prices.

But Fillon, touring EU capitals ahead of France's six month presidency of the 27-nation bloc, made clear that Paris did not want to let the matter drop.

"If the reply is negative even before the arguments have been laid out, then naturally we'll mark this down," he said.

France is facing protests by its fishermen, farmers and truckers over the jump in oil costs, but is struggling to find solutions that do not infringe EU regulations.

French ministers have warned the protesters that the high prices are likely to stay and Fillon said the only lasting response to the crisis was "structural".

"While we wait for these structural decisions to have an impact on the daily lives of our citizens, some Europeans ... are facing very serious problems because of the increase in the price of a barrel of petrol," he said.

"Europe has to think about the situation," he added.

(Writing by Crispian Balmer)