2000 Volkswagen GTI overheating

Check the fuse panel mounted on top of the battery. If it's not obvious, look closely at the contacts and fuses for melting and excessive carbon.
If they are melted/damaged, the complete panel can be purchased at the local dealer and most likely in stock.

If nothing is seen you can start checking power and ground going to the fan with a test light. I have seen the fan(s), fan module, and radiator fan swicth fail. So you might have to dig in deeper.

if the water pump was bad the water would not curculate run vehcile to running temp and while it is running grab ahold of the top radiator hose it should be hot then grab the bottom hose if is cool enuff to hold on to the water pump is not working to open the thermostat that which is not operating the temp sensor for the cooling fans