About the Council: I even didn't know about its existence.
Considering the way Nokia behaved about N900 (months to have pr 1.2, no voice maps, no flash 10.1, no meego upgrade for n900, no this, no that, no up, no down, no here, no there), the council didn't have too much success in its interaction with Nokia. Maybe if the Council were not existing, things would even be worse, maybe not: who knows?