The only drawback with removing the EGR pipe is that it's not legal to do in Australia (emission control laws). The idea behind EGR is that if they blow enough exhaust into the combustion chamber, it will cool down the combustion process and make the vehicle use more dinosaur juice which makes Shell and Mobil and BP shareholders have more successful orgies, so blocking the EGR results in a bunch of sad rich people whining about how unfair their lives are because they're earning only 8 figures a year not 9. And it's all your fault.
Ok, seriously - EGR isn't GOOD for the car. It helps the environment by reducing the combustion temperatures to a level below which nitrogen oxides are formed. The mechanism that controls it - the EGR valve - is sometimes faulty (I don't suspect that here) but there's a tube which runs from the exhaust manifold near the turbocharger around the front of the motor through the thicker part with the two hoses (EGR cooler) to the EGR valve - now that tube is suspect, particularly in the concertina area.
There's a chance though that the EGR cooler section has developed a leak allowing coolant to flow into the EGR cooler. You can test this (for short periods, don't leave the car like this) by removing the two hoses from the EGR cooler and connect them together (short piece of pipe, hose clamps, it's fairly easy). If the problem goes away you're best off either replacing the EGR pipe completely (this is legal in Australia) or blanking off both ends and then connecting the coolant hoses together permanently (not legal but difficult to detect).
Note that in a roadside stop in Australia where they shove a gas analysis probe in the exhaust they won't be able to detect EGR - EGR is always closed at idle. Just don't rev the engine!