No! It's not at all common in Europe. Here, at hotels like the Amstel for instance, you get large full size bottles of liquor that you can drink to your hearts delight. No charge for RA's. And most all the IC's in Europe offer the food items in the mini-bar for free. Even in Africa, at the IC Sandton for instance, you have free access to the full size bottles.

This stinginess is mostly in SE Asia. I recall exactly when it happened at the IC SIN. They used to have a nice mini-bar, but this hotel became a Flyertalk RA favorite and I guess they didn't like the mini-bar being emptied in so many rooms. I was there during the changeover when they came into my room and changed the entire selection right in front of me. They seriously dumbed it down.