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I. Introduction
After the financial collapse of the Icelandic economy in 2008, the government heavily focused on rejuvenation of the national economy. In doing so, cutting down the budget and all possible expenses have been at the forefront of the government objectives. This has led to the fact that economic considerations and the lowest prices have predominately been used in public procurement in the recent years. There are approximately 340,000 inhabitants in Iceland, and the municipalities and other contracting authorities are rather small.Ríkiskaup(CentralPublicProcurement) is the only central purchasing body in Iceland and as such it has a crucial role in delivering nationwide public contracts. Ríkiskaup operates under the auspices of the Ministry of Finance. The role of Ríkiskaup is to handle procurement on supplies and services in domestic and foreign markets for State institutions and State corporations. Ríkiskaup examines joint needs for supplies and services and endeavours to co-ordinate procurement through framework agreements. Ríkiskaup also provides commercial assistance and instructions concerning individual procurement as needed. Ríkiskaup gives consultation, handles selling and purchasing of State property and collects information about the procurement needs of the State institutions and State corporations.1 Most of the government contracting authorities, except the ones operating in the utilities sector, are obliged to use the services of Ríkiskaup when procuring goods, services or works above national and EEA thresholds. 2 Other public bodies may use Ríkiskaup's services on a voluntary basis. The national thresholds for government agencies, except the ones active in utilities sector, are 15.500.000 ISK (euro122.850) for goods and services and 49.000.000 ISK (euro388,360) forworks.3Municipalities and other local authorities only apply EEA thresholds according to the Icelandic PP law, but will from 31 May 2019 have the same national thresholds as the government agencies.4 As a central purchasing body Ríkiskaup tenders out the largest framework agreements and has the largest institutionalised capacity in Icelandic public procurement including the responsibility to promote sustainable procurement. Keeping inmind that literature on public procurement in Iceland is very limited, Ríkiskaup plays a key role when it comes to educating Icelandic contracting authorities in the area of public procurement.5 Therefore, it is crucial for Ríkiskaup to not only implement sustainable considerationsbothinits standardprocurementdocuments but also underline the importance of sustainability in public procurement through education and...