I think if EGR systems were more reliable then most people would not even consider blanking them.
I can tell you blanking the egr on a D3 did effect the way it drove, and I am usre knocked some mid range torque on the head, when I mentioned this on the D3 forum I got pood pood by a few guys, but interestingly a few people said they had noticed the exact same as I had.
I only blanked it as when D3 egr fails open the car is pretty much undriveable.
I think the ex gas temperatrure can go up as the engine has more oxygen to burn rather than the a percentage of exhaust gases.