EPC: light VW Polo 2003

In the middle of August, I purchased a 2003 VW Polo. A month later the power steering went, and the pump was replaced free under guarantee. Now the brakes started to make a screeching noise, over the last two/three weeks. This evening he EPC light has come on. Is there a connection between the power steering, and the EPC, the section where the clock that shows how the reving moves, always stays at 10 and never returns to 0. My friend says that there is very little power and it is sluggish. Is all of this linked. Is one causing the other problems, and could the changing of the power steering have caused the sluggishness in the car. Is this a common VW problem, what exactly is does all mean.