Details of talking points on the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the EU and the US, obtained and leaked by Greenpeace’s Netherlands arm, are further stirring the already choppy waters swirling around the controversial treaty since negotiations began in July 2013.

Greenpeace said the documents it released in Berlin on May 2, containing about two-thirds of the negotiating text discussed in the 13^th round of talks concluded at the end of April, confirm suspicions long harbored by European TTIP opponents that US negotiators have been pressuring their European counterparts to ease regulations stricter that those in force in the US.

Moreover, the environmental advocacy group said, the US proposals – confirming European fears – would oblige the EU to inform its transatlantic partner’s industries of any planned regulations in advance and allow American companies to contribute input just as their European counterparts already do.

In addition to seeking a voice in EU lawmaking for its companies, Greenpeace said the American side is also pressing for a weakening or overturn of European restrictions on the use of animal testing for cosmetics or imports of certain genetically altered foods as well as relaxing consumer protection standards.

European environmentalists are particularly enraged about a purported US proposal to have disputes over pesticides residues and food safety dealt with by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s Codex Alimentarius system rather than national or overarching authorities such as the EU. Greenpeace claims that 44% of the UN body’s decisions on pesticides residues have been less stringent than EU rules.

The environmental lobbyist shared details of the TTIP talking points with several European newspapers, including Le Monde of France, Germany’s Süddeutsche Zeitung and Britain’s The Guardian, which the latter said point to “irreconcilable differences” between the two sides.

Jorgo Riss, director of Greenpeace EU, said the documents offer “an unparalleled look at the scope of US demands to lower or circumvent EU protections for environment and public health as part of TTIP. The EU position is very bad, and the US position is terrible. The prospect of a TTIP compromising within that range is an awful one,”

Commenting on an internal note by EU trade negotiators, The Guardian said discussions on cosmetics testing apparently remain especially difficult and the scope of common objectives fairly limited. As regards agriculture, the note said the US delegation wanted to consult with the chemical industry on how to position itself on issues of market access for non-agricultural goods.

According to the newspaper, the problems referred to in the notes were not mentioned in a leaked separate report on the state of the talks prepared by the European Commission for the European Parliament, which must give its approval to the trade deal.

The leaked documents provided no insight into any European positions, which some TTIP opponents claim are weak. In a statement, European Competition Commissioner Cecilia Malmström termed the discussion over the leaked points a “tempest in a teapot.” The EU would never sign a document that weakened standards by consumer or environmental protection or food safety, she said.

In January of this year, Malmström said the EU would continue to be guided by its “core precautionary principle” obliging regulatory caution where there is scientific doubt, but Greenpeace said the principle was not mentioned in the 248 pages of TTIP negotiating texts.

Reports said the EU’s chief negotiator, Ignacio Garcia Bercero, while rejecting suggestions that the US is seeking to dilute European standards, conceded that the positions on regulating exports of automobiles or agricultural products are far apart and that the European side expects more concessions from the US.

In Germany, the chemical industry association Verband der Chemischen Industrie (VCI), remarking that the leakage of confidential TTIP documents just one week after German chancellor Merkel and US President Obama stressed their goal of concluding the negotiations by the end 2016 is no coincidence, said: “It is conveniently forgotten that Europe can never give up certain fundamental values like, for example, the precautionary principle. Otherwise, the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers could and would not approve TTIP.”

The VCI’s director general, Utz Tillmann, noted also that the text at issue is only the US negoti­ating position, not the final text of the agreement. Calling TTIP “an historic chance for the EU,”  he remarked that, “Europe is asking a lot from the USA: complete access to public procurement, full protection of European designations of origin like camembert, champagne or Black Forest ham, access to energy and to the car market.”

A recent study published by the think-tank Bertelsmann Foundation is said to have shown that support for TTIP in Germany has fallen to just 17% from 55 per cent in 2014. Other polls suggest that TTIP support in Germany and Austria is the lowest in the EU.