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February 2026 did not deliver a headline regulatory shock in Brussels. It delivered something more consequential for the medium term — a visible change in how the EU is thinking about agriculture itself. The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is no longer being treated primarily as a stable, self-contained support system. It is increasingly being handled as part of a wider political equation that includes budget pressure, social sensitivity, strategic autonomy, and enlargement. 

The United States plans to increase import tariffs for certain countries to 15% or higher, according to U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. Speaking to FOX Business, Greer indicated that while a 10% baseline tariff is currently in place, duties for some trading partners will soon rise to 15%, with the possibility of even higher rates for others.

According to monthly data from the National Oilseed Processors Association (NOPA) released Tuesday, U.S. soybean crushing volume in January reached a record high for the first month of the year, and soybean oil stocks rose to their highest level since April 2023.

January 2026 in European agricultural policy was not marked by grand strategies or visionary reforms. Instead, it was the month of a "hard collision" between expectations and reality. The key takeaway from the start of the year is unambiguous: the center of gravity in decision-making has shifted from the supranational level of the European Commission to the national capitals of Member States. For the EU, this is an era of caution; for Ukraine, it is a signal that the rules of engagement have fundamentally changed.