Tried a presentation in which the protagonists showed their intentions, but in which there was no significant progress. It was the starting point of an arduous, laborious and open ended negotiation. The Government asked the provinces to seek to generate a framework of agreement to proceed with the treatment of three key laws for national administration: co-participation, tax reform and fiscal responsibility.

On the other side found a good predisposition, but at the same time there was a renewed request for money to cope with the increases that the educational peer in each province. The Government's response was clear: there will be no additional disbursements.

The new rules that began to be debated yesterday will be based on two precepts that are repeated as a mantra in the offices of the Casa Rosada: equity and efficiency. Or, as the Minister of Economy of the province of Buenos Aires, Hernán Lacunza, explained to LA NACION: "That the population weighs and that the tax collection effort of each district in the time of distributing the collection" is verified.

Those in charge of displaying the official plan before the ministers and provincial secretaries of finance were Rogelio Frigerio (Interior), Nicolás Dujovne (Treasury), Luis Caputo (Finance) and Esteban Bullrich (Education). The only district that did not send an emissary was San Luis, a province that has an open confrontation with the national government.

"It was concluded that this is the way forward, that we have to aim for the long term and commit ourselves to the reforms," ​​said Caputo, who said that the next meeting will be next month.

In the Government they celebrated the presence of almost all the provinces, which they evaluated like a "fundamental" first step to advance with a new law of coparticipación, a debate that has more than two decades without concrete results.

An example of the distortion that has the current distribution is what happens with the province that governs Maria Eugenia Vidal. According to Lacunza, Buenos Aires receives $ 7,500 annually per inhabitant, while the rest of the provinces receive $ 20,000 on average.

"This is a sign that we are doing well," said the Buenos Aires minister. "This requires a collective, non-selfish approach to each jurisdiction," he said. He added: "The province of Buenos Aires generates 37% of resources, houses 40% of the poor and receives 18% of resources, so there is no viable province."

Although in principle the agenda was to discuss these issues, the presence of Bullrich was because in the previous some of the provincial officials seized the opportunity to claim the Government assistance to meet the increases of teachers. "It was discussed about the educational fund, they asked for more funds, but we will respect what was signed in the budget. We will fulfill what was signed," Caputo acknowledged.