A valve control device performs control for eliminating or preventing fixation of an EGR valve (30) by opening/closing the valve near its fully closed position. After an engine stops, the valve control device performs “a fixation avoiding operation” for opening/closing EGR valve (30) near the fully closed position, and further, performs “a fixation determining operation”. When it is determined that the fixation of EGR valve (30) is eliminated, EGR valve (30) is positioned at the fully closed position, and a reference position is corrected such that the fully closed position is regarded as a reference position at which a valve opening/closing control is performed during the operation of the engine.