Leaked documents relating to a sweeping free trade agreement under negotiation by the EU and the US have shown how much the pressure the Americans would be able to put on Europe over regulatory issues, experts say.

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership leak, announced by Greenpeace on Monday, showed for the first time the EU and US negotiating positions side by side.

The European Commission rubbished the notion that TTIP could lower standards in the EU by forcing it to accept looser regulations on GM foods or harmful pesticides.

“It begs to be said, again and again: No EU trade agreement will ever lower our level of protection of consumers, or food safety, or of the environment,” Cecilia Malmström, EU trade commissioner, said.

But experts have said that the leaked documents show that this might not be the case.

“That pressure is already manifesting itself in changes in the document. All the assurances the European Commission give about not lowering standards do not stand up to scrutiny,” said Gabriel Siles-Brügge a politics lecturer at the University of Manchester who has written a book on TTIP.

The documents show that TTIP could lower standards in areas such as the environment and public health by giving US companies the right to lobby the EU to make sure regulations do not stand in the way of US business interests.

US President Obama has been transparent on this issue, claiming in a recent visit to the UK that TTIP would remove “regulatory and bureaucratic irritants and blockages to trade”.

Monique Goyens is director general of the European Consumer Organisation, which represents 40 independent national consumer organisations in 31 European countries. She said that the TTIP leak has revealed three ways that US pressure on the EU could lower standards.

The US is pressuring the EU for a more transparent rule-making process. Goyens said that while transparency sounds nice, this system gives US companies free rein to lobby the EU when it is making new laws. “Clearly, this system could delay or even water down future EU regulations,” she said. The US wants to give any person the power to challenge a regulation. This means any individual can challenge regulations like REACH, which protects people and the environment against the misuse of chemicals, passenger rights, or food safety rules, Moyens said. The US wants to “ improve EU rule making ” . “Again this sounds nice,” Moyens said. “But the proposed rules would make it extremely difficult for the EU to issue regulations in future.” Even if those regulations bring benefits to companies, create jobs and protect consumers.

Siles-Brügge gave two examples where US pressure is already suspected to have resulted in the softening of EU regulations.

In the first case, environmentalists suspect that TTIP and an EU-Canada free trade deal called Ceta may have influenced the EU’s decision not to class oil from Canada’s massive tar sands as dirty fuels.

Secondly, there are suspicions that the EU dropped pesticide laws relating to endocrine-disrupting chemicals linked to cancer and male infertility because of pressure from US politicians over TTIP.

The Greenpeace leak comes as senior politicians around Europe seek to distance themselves from the controversial trade deal.

President François Hollande announced this weekend that France will veto any TTIP agreement that could endanger the country’s agricultural sector.

Meanwhile, Germany’s economy minister Sigmar Gabriel has also said that if TTIP collapses, US intransigence is the cause.

In the UK, debate has raged over whether TTIP could lead to an irreversible sell-off of the NHS.

In the House of Commons on Wednesday, David Cameron accused opponents of TTIP of using the NHS as a red herring to stand against “a trade deal that could add tens of billions to our economy and generate jobs”.

“There are plenty of reasons that people don’t want to see trade expanded, I think they should be honest about it and say they don’t like trade deals,” David Cameron said.

Cameron has publicly stated his support for the deal.

Business news: In pictures Show all 13 1 /13 Business news: In pictures Business news: In pictures Flybe collapses Airline Flybe has collapsed. All future flights on the Exeter-based airline have been cancelled – leaving more than 2,300 staff facing an uncertain future, and wrecking the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of passengers. The chief executive, Mark Anderson, said: “Europe’s largest independent regional airline has been unable to overcome significant funding challenges to its business. AFP via Getty Business news: In pictures Future product placement will be 'tailored to individual viewers' Marketing executives say that product placement in films and televison shows on streaming services such as Netflix may be tailored to individuals in future. For instance, if data shows that a viewer is a fan of pepsi, a billboard in the background of a shot would host an advert for pepsi, while for a viewer known to have different tastes it could be for Coca-Cola Paramount Business news: In pictures Corbyn wishes Amazon a happy birthday In a card sent to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on the company's 25th birthday, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn writes: "You owe the British people millions in taxes that pay for the public services that we all rely on. Please pay your fair share" Business news: In pictures No deal, no tariffs The government has announced that it would slash almost all tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Notable exceptions include cars and meat, which will see tariffs in place to protect British farmers Getty Business news: In pictures Fingerprint payment NatWest is trialling a new bank card that will allow people to touch their hand to the card when paying rather than typing in a PIN number. The card will work by recognising the user's fingerprint NatWest/PA Wire Business news: In pictures Mahabis bust High-end slipper retailer Mahabis has gone into administration. 2 Jan 2019 Mahabis Business news: In pictures Costa Cola Coca-Cola has paid £3.9bn for Costa Coffee. A cafe chain is a new venture for the global soft drinks giant PA Business news: In pictures RIP Payday Loans A funeral procession for payday loans was held in London on September 2. The future of pay day lenders is in doubt after Wonga, Britain's biggest, went into administration on August 30 PA Business news: In pictures Musk irks investors and directors Elon Musk has concluded that Tesla will remain public. Investors and company directors were angry at Musk for tweeting unexpectedly that he was considering taking Tesla private and share prices had taken a tumble in the following weeks Getty Business news: In pictures Jaguar warning Iconic British car maker Jaguar Land Rover warned on July 5, 2018 that a "bad" Brexit deal could jeopardise planned investment of more than $100 billion, upping corporate pressure as the government heads into crucial talks AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures Spotif-IPO Spotify traded publically for the first time on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. However, the company isn't issuing shares, but rather, shares held by Spotify's private investors will be sold AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures French blue passports The deadline to award a contract to make blue British passports after Brexit has been extended by two weeks following a request by bidder De La Rue. The move comes after anger at the announcement British passports would be produced by Franco-Dutch firm Gemalto when De La Rue’s contract ends in July. The British firm said Gemalto was chosen only because it undercut the competition, but the UK company also admitted that it was not the cheapest choice in the tendering process. Business news: In pictures Beast from the east economic impact The Beast from the East wiped £4m off of Flybe’s revenues due to flight cancellations, airport closures and delays, according to the budget airline’s estimates. Flybe said it cancelled 994 flights in the three months to 31 March, compared to 372 in the same period last year.

Those claiming that the Greenpeace leaks will put a stop to the deal will be disappointed, Siles-Brügge said, noting that statements from Paris officials should be read as a way of extracting leverage from the leaks rather than as opposition to the principle of TTIP.

“Delays in the negotiations were already likely before these leaks due to the US election timetable and the changeover of administration,” Siles-Brügge said.