Former European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso did not breach EU ethics rules when he took a controversial top job at US investment bank Goldman Sachs after leaving office, an EU panel said Monday.

"On the basis of the information provided ... there are not sufficient grounds to establish a violation of the duty of integrity and discretion" in Barroso working for Goldman Sachs, the EU's Ad Hoc Ethical Committee said in a statement.

Barroso however had also "not shown the considerate judgement one may expect from someone having held the high office he occupied for so many years," it said.