High intensity lasers has developed tremendously over the last decades, in particular since the event of chirped pulse amplification. The use of current state-of-the-art high-intensity laser systems covers a wide range of topics, from inertial confinement fusion to hadron therapy. I will give an overview of such applications and also talk about future European facilities, currently on the European Roadmap for research infrastructure, and what these new developments can give in terms of science.