It's probably then that your EGR is gummed up and not working properly - will throw the code as well.
blanking the EGR will reduce the refinement a bit, or not change it at all... you get slower warm up time without it.....
a decent air filter, gutting the cat, (fitting SDI's) and a remap will give you more gains than leaving or removing the EGR, both refinement and power
I took mine out as I wanted to measure the temperatures in the exhaust manifold, (and later pressure), on the L it only works on constant throttle so unless you're on the mway or stuck in traffic (at which point it is on a timer) it is not actually open all that often....