Josef will share his views how Copernicus can impulse and contribute to research activities across the topics of the societal challenges of Horizon2020. While referring to the joint NEREUS/ESA-initiative "The growing use of GMES across Europe’s Regions" he will explain the potential of the system on different sectors that are addressed by the third column. He will also demonstrate how accurate global observations from GMES satellites (Sentinels) contribute to environmental and climate change monitoring.