Had no idea what this is, so...
...in case anyone else was confused, I dug this up...
EGR - Exhaust Gas Recirculation
Why would anyone want to dump exhaust back into the intake of a perfectly good engine?
Unfortunately, the internal combustion engine is not `perfectly good,' and consequently creates NOx (Nitrous Oxide) during the high temperature combustion process. NOx reacts with sunlight to create atmospheric problems such as smog and so comes into the category of 'not a good idea'.
EGR is considered a `metered intake leak' and was developed to reduce the combustion temperatures to below 2,500 degrees, the threshold where NOx is created. Not unlike putting a brick in your lavatory to lower the volume of water used, the EGR valve meters a readily available inert gas (actually exhaust gas which contains a lot of very inert Carbon Dioxide) into the combustion chamber to effectively reduce the volume. Smaller effective displacement means less fire, and less heat and thus lower temperatures, thereby controlling NOx emissions.
Obviously we don't want to `reduce' the volume of the combustion chambers (effectively reduced engine displacement) during hard acceleration, so EGR is turned off when you need full power (WOT (Wide Open throttle) conditions). At idle, the engine is very sensitive to air/fuel mixture ratios and swirl in the combustion chamber, so introducing EGR at idle is not on either. However at cruise the Fuel/Air mixture is set as lean as possible for maximum economy and this in turn generates the highest temperatures, and so the EEC-V uses these conditions to inject exhaust gas into the inlet manifolds to reduce emissions.