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European Union (EU) policymakers and academics regard impact assessments as the primary mechanism for communicating the added value of EU Cohesion Policy to citizens. There is a need to look beyond impact evaluations and towards active citizen engagement in policymaking to increase support for EU cohesion policies. This article examines the benefits and different types of legitimacy that citizen involvement confers upon policymaking, before outlining recommendations for proactively engaging citizens within existing EU cohesion policymaking structures. It is argued that citizen engagement fosters greater input and throughput legitimacy into the process, which supplements the output legitimacy bestowed by impact assessments.