(Adds details, reaction by Austrian governor from paragraph 7)
BRUSSELS, July 30 (Reuters) - The European Union's highest court on Wednesday suspended an Austrian ban on heavy trucks passing through its pristine Tyrol region as it could harm German and Italian truckers.
The ban, which was supposed to take effect on Friday, was issued by Tyrol's provincial governor in May after years of public anger over large trucks using the narrow Alpine valleys as a short-cut between major markets in northwestern Europe and the Mediterranean.
But the European Commission, the European Union executive, had asked the European Court of Justice to examine the legality of Tyrol's ban, as it feared it could breach EU treaty laws on the free movement of goods.
"This morning the president of the court decided to suspend provisionally the application of an Austrian decree banning traffic on the A12 in the Tyrol," Commission spokesman Gilles Gantelet told a news briefing.
"The president... without judging the substance, considered that at least there was risk of damage to road transport, and principally German and Italian road hauliers."
Gantelet said a final decision by the Court was likely in the first half of September.
TYROL GOVERNOR REACTS WITH ANGER
The provincial governor of Tyrol, who faces elections in September, reacted angrily, saying the court had acted without taking nearly enough time to familiarise itself with the case.
"The action of the European Court is a slap in the face of any kind of rule of law," Tyrolian Governor Herwig van Staa told Austrian radio.
He said he was calling an emergency meeting of his provincial cabinet to decide what steps to take next to keep truck traffic down.
The Tyrolian ban would prohibit certain kinds of bulk and non-perishable shipments from using the highway through Tyrol, including grain, steel, stone, vehicles, uncut timber and cork. The idea had been to force those to go by rail or around the Alps.
Shipments of perishables such as fruit or dairy products would still be permitted, even on trucks heavier than 7.5 tonnes.
The A12 highway runs from the German border with Austria to the city of Innsbruck, the most direct route between Italy and Germany.
The Italian road haulage lobby has been particularly vocal in its criticism of Austrian transport policy.
Italy, holder of the rotating EU presidency, has made the free circulation of goods its number one transport priority for the next six months.
There was no immediate comment from the Austrian government, which under EU law is responsible for enforcing the court's decisions on its local governments. Transport Minister Hubert Gorbach last week defended the Tyrol ban as conforming to EU law.
(Additional reporting by Marcus Kabel in Vienna)