In Poland I pay flat monthly rate for all in-country calls and SMSes. It is internet usage that you pay more when going over certain limit. SMSes being expensive would be true story maybe 10 or 15 years ago.
What? SMS and voice calls are free in most plans.
I agree that these times people communicate over Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp much more than through SMS but that has nothing to do with cost.
Maybe for you, my SMS are over the top, because I am refusing to be tied up to operator via some monthly subscription.
Where in Europe? Most pre-paid packages have tons of free SMS, mine is around 5000 per month.